Hungary-Slovenia deal enables more comprehensive cooperation, says PM Jansa
The agreement which Hungary and Slovenia signed on Monday will enable more comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and form the basis for the continued growth of bilateral relations, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said on Monday.
Jansa told a joint press conference with Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán in Lendava (Lendva) that the first agreement on the protection of Hungary and Slovenia’s minorities on the two sides of the border had been signed 30 years ago. The current agreement covers so far unaddressed matters, he added.
The prime ministers signed an agreement on a joint fund to develop the mixed-population Prekmurje and Rába regions in 2022-2026 by providing an annual 5 million euros for each.
A cooperation agreement on setting up the fund was signed by Jansa and Orbán in Celje last September.
Trade between the two countries increased by 20 percent last year compared to the previous year “which demonstrates that businesses on both sides of the border discovered previously untapped opportunities”, he said.
Hungary is Slovenia’s seventh largest foreign trade partner,
Jansa said, adding that he expected this to change in the near future considering that “economic ties between neighbourly countries are twice as useful” as between non-neighbours.
He said that elections were to take place in both countries in April and expressed hope that cooperation between Hungary and Slovenia would continue “regardless of what awaits us after the elections”.
In response to a question, Jansa said
cutting energy prices would be impossible without nuclear energy.
Commenting on the Ukraine crisis, he said
“I think I can say for both of us that we trust the conflict would not escalate because that would be against everybody’s interests”.
He said there was consensus in the EU about the need for a peaceful solution and warned that even a hybrid attack could cause plenty of damage, even if there is no armed conflict.
Prior to the press conference, foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar and Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec signed an agreement about a Hungarian-Slovenian educational, scientific and cultural programme for 2022-2025.
