Hungary and Slovenia in talks

Hungary and Slovenia are working to develop mutually advantageous cooperation in forestry, wildlife management and to coordinate preventive steps in animal health, Agriculture Minister István Nagy said on Saturday, after meeting Irena Šinko, his Slovenian counterpart.

Nagy told a joint press conference after the meeting in Felsőszolnok, in southwest Hungary, that Hungary was cooperating with Slovenian experts to increase the size of wooded areas to 27 percent of the country’s territory by 2030, from 23 percent today.

He also said the two countries would cooperate to make sure that African swine fever, which has not yet spread to the west of Hungary or to Slovenia, remains contained, he said.

Šinko called for support for small farms and traditional forms of agriculture on both sides of the border.