Hungary’s foreign minister had talks with his Estonian counterpart in Budapest

Budapest, March 16 (MTI) – Hungary and Estonia have always been “strong and stable” allies, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his Estonian counterpart in Budapest on Wednesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Marina Kaljurand, Szijjártó said that in the trying times that Europe and the world is going through, countries are in need of stable, reliable partners and allies. Such are Hungary and Estonia to each other,Szijjártó said, adding that the friendship between the two countries had now become even more valuable.

Szijjártó noted that in 2016 Hungary and the Baltic states mark the 25th anniversary of the reestablishment of their diplomatic relations.

Now that the Euro-Atlantic alliance is facing severe security challenges, Hungary and Estonia’s cooperation within NATO had also become more valuable, he said. Szijjártó noted that Hungary was one of the NATO countries to patrol Baltic airspace in 2015, adding that Hungary would continue to maintain a presence in the region.

He said both Hungary and Estonia support NATO enlargement and “keeping the door open” for potential new candidate countries, which Szijjártó said was important for the organisation’s credibility.

Concerning Europe’s migrant crisis, Szijjártó said both countries are on the EU’s Schengen periphery protecting important external borders.

He thanked Kaljurand for being “one of the few” European politicians who always spoke “factually and fairly” about Hungary and for not joining Hungary’s “professional detractors”.

He said that with the western Balkan countries having decided to protect their own borders, Hungary no longer considers the deal on migrants between the European Union and Turkey crucial. Szijjártó added, however, that support should still be offered to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and the Kurdish region of Iraq so that they can look after refugees there.

He said it was essential to preserve the Schengen Area, stressing that Hungary rejects the idea of a “mini Schengen”.

Speaking about bilateral economic relations, Szijjártó said the trade volume between Hungary and Estonia grew by 37 percent last year, adding, however that it is not high enough. To boost trade, the two countries will start focusing on investment and infrastructural development projects, he said.

The minister said an announcement would be made next month about a major Estonian electronics company establishing a service centre in Budapest in May, giving jobs to hundreds of people.

Concerning energy security, Szijjártó stressed the importance of the development of north-south energy corridors, and rejected the EU’s use of double standards regarding the projects.

Kaljurand said Hungarian-Estonian relations were “very good” but could also be improved, which she said was what the two countries were working on.

Regarding NATO enlargement, she said every country should have the right to join whichever alliance it wants if it meets the membership criteria.

The minister said it had been a long time since Europe has had to face as many problems as it does now, which is why European solidarity is especially important. Estonia will do its utmost to contribute to the resolution of the migrant crisis, she insisted.

The two ministers signed an inter-ministry cooperation agreement before the press conference.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters