Hungary supports Caucasian country’s Euro-Atlantic integration

Hungary supports Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky said after meeting Juansher Burchuladze, his Georgian counterpart, in Budapest on Friday.

Hungary will have a chance to promote Georgia’s aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration when it assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of next year, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said. The minister said that after his visit to Tbilisi in the summer, Friday’s meeting had been an opportunity to boost cooperation between the two countries. Dialogue between Hungary and Georgia was “easy” given their similar cultures and geographical characteristics, he said. Both nations speak a unique language, have a “closed culture”, and are committed to the values of Christianity, he added.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said they had reviewed the situation of the war in Ukraine, agreeing that it was a drawn-out bloody conflict that carried a risk of escalation. He said Georgia could be considered a “grandmaster of peace”, even though it was locked in a serious conflict with its neighbour, and he underscored Hungary’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and independence.