Hungarian, Spanish governments have “totally different philosophies”, says FM Szijjártó

The minister of foreign affairs and trade discussed opportunities to further develop relations between Hungary and Spain with his Spanish counterpart in Madrid on Friday.

The foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying after the talks with Jose Manuel Albares that bilateral economic cooperation had “broken records” in recent years. According to Szijjártó, the Hungarian and Spanish governments have “totally different philosophies” concerning political and ideological matters, and even so “the two sides have managed to maintain ties between them on a basis of mutual respect”.

“Our foreign trade is at a record level; both countries are extremely strong in car making, and we have an interest in Europe’s car making becoming even stronger in future, as that industry is the backbone of the European economy, providing millions of Europeans with jobs and a livelihood to millions of European families,” he said.

“Improving the competitiveness of the European economy, therefore, is in our shared interest,” the minister said. Szijjártó welcomed that the number of Spanish tourists visiting Hungary exceeded 200,000 last year, while over 400,000 Hungarians travelled to Spain in the same period.

The Spanish government “openly called last year’s Hungarian EU presidency successful”, Szijjártó said, adding that Spain had provided technical support in areas in which Hungary had little experience, such as maritime fishing. Both countries are committed to reducing the threat of terrorism at a global level, Szijjártó said. “We want to see an even closer cooperation between Europe and Africa to enable countries in Africa face the challenges of a rapidly growing population,” he added.

“Unless we help African countries in this area it could easily lead to a humanitarian disaster or a greater migratory pressure than ever before,” Szijjártó warned.

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