Hungary, Slovakia benefit a lot from cooperation, says Szijjártó in Bratislava

Hungary and Slovakia both higly benefit from bilateral cooperation, and their reliable partnership is behind their ability to tackle current problems, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Bratislava (Pozsony) on Monday.

Speaking at joint press conference with Rastislav Kacer, his Slovak counterpart, Szijjártó said that when Europe faces serious challenges predictable, reliable and good neighbourly relations are highly valued.

“Hungary and Slovakia have built a predictable and reliable partnership which helps both countries in tackling the security, economic and energy supply difficulties more successfully,” he said.

Szijjártó called both countries reliable NATO partners, noting that Slovakia has contributed several dozen police units to help protect the Hungarian-Serbian border, which he said was “under siege”. At that section, authorities have so far stopped 255,000 illegal migrants this year, he said.

“Your own Slovak police officers can now see first-hand how incredibly aggressive the migrants and people smugglers are,” said Szijjártó.

In terms of economic cooperation, Szijjártó said Slovakia is Hungary’s second most important trading partner, with a record volume of over 13 billion euros worth of bilateral trade reached last year. This year has seen an increase of 43 percent, he said.

In a bid to further develop infrastructure ties, three additional bridges are slated to be completed over the Ipoly river next year. There will also be a road construction project completed and a ferry service launched in 2023, allowing border crossings at another five spots, Szijjártó said.