Deputy Prime Minister: Hungarians, Croatians closely linked by history

Budapest, September 1 (MTI) – The Hungarian and Croatian people are closely linked by a common history including 800 years of a common state, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén said on Thursday.

The tragedies of the 20th century caused great losses to both nations who by then lived in separate countries, he told a year-opening ceremony at the Croatian kindergarten and school in Budapest. The two nations found the way back to each other during the western Balkans wars of the 1990s and the Hungarian government was among the first to recognise independent Croatia, he added.

In the 21st century, the Orbán government’s efforts effectively helped Croatia become a member of the European Union, Semjén said.

He noted that next week the presidents of the two countries are meeting in Szigetvár in southern Hungary on the occasion of the Zrínyi memorial year.

Miklós Zrínyi was a Hungarian-Croatian nobleman whose outnumbered troops tried to contain the Ottoman forces besieging the fortress of Szigetvár in 1566.

Source: MTI