Here is the new Hungarian President’s first foreign visit: he called for deepening dialogue

Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok underscored the importance of maintaining and deepening dialogue between Hungary and Poland, after meeting his Polish counterpart in Stary Sacz, in southern Poland, on Friday.

Polish-Hungarian friendship goes back over a millennium and is deeply rooted in Hungarian society, Sulyok, who is on a working visit to Poland on the occasion of the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship, told a joint press conference with Andrzej Duda.

“We in central and eastern Europe share a common cause and destiny, and this is what has united the two countries since the time of Kinga of Poland,” he said.

Sulyok said his talks with Duda had touched on the Three Seas Initiative, the importance of military development, minorities and bilateral trade relations.

He said Hungarians and Poles had always known when it was important to fight for freedom, and history had always shown that the two countries could only be free, equal and fast-growing countries in Europe when they were united.

Hungary and Poland, he said, also had several shared interests when it came to foreign policy. Hungary is proud that its defence spending reaches 2 percent of GDP, he said, adding that the upgrade of the military was a priority for Hungary as well as for Poland.

The two nations are also bound together by their national minority communities in each other’s countries, Sulyok said. There is a Polish minority in Kaposvar, in southern Hungary, he noted, and extended an invitation to Duda to mark the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship in Kaposvár next year.