Hungary, Romania would benefit from closer ties, says Minister Szijjártó
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Closer ties between Hungary and Romania would benefit both countries and central Europe as a whole, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Arad, in western Romania, on Monday, at a joint press conference with Hunor Kelemen, the head of Romania’s ethnic Hungarian RMDSZ party.
Szijjártó said that “positive gestures” towards the ethnic Hungarian community in Transylvania would strengthen inter-state ties, and consequently the countries’ role in the region. Hungary sees the ethnic Romanian community in Hungary as an important asset and continues to take steps to strengthen it, he said.
“We would expect the same from the Romanian leadership,” the minister said.
Concerning the Valea Uzului (Uzvolgye) memorial cemetery in Romania, a resting place of Hungarian WW1 soldiers where Szekler demonstrators clashed with Romanians earlier this year, the minister called on the Romanian government to delegate an “adequate negotiating partner” to the talks on setting the issue.
“We especially expect the Romanian government to prevent further provocation,” he said, referring to a commemoration announced by Romanian nationalist organisations at the same site for October 25.