The foreign minister has highlighted how cooperation between East and West is in Hungary’s political, economic, and security interests.
Following talks with his Belarusian counterpart, Vladimir Makei in Minsk on Monday, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, met with Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko.
During a press conference surrounding his visit to Belarus, the foreign minister drew attention to the fact that during the course of history the people of Central Europe were forced to clearly learn and understand the lessons of history.
“It has become clear to the Hungarians: it is in the interests of the Central European for a pragmatic cooperation to come about between East and West that is based on common sense and mutual respect,” he said.
“We Hungarians are not calling for cooperation between East and West because it is the interest of any power greater than ourselves, but because it is in our interests. This is in Hungary’s political, economic and most importantly security interests,” he added.
According to Minister Szijjártó, both Hungary and Belarus are among the important supporters of East-West cooperation.
“Hungary is a member of the European Union, which Belarus is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which makes cooperation all the more important, because amidst a continuously transforming global economy and global trade, it is clearly in Europe’s interests to maintain pragmatic cooperation with its eastern neighbors. For this reason, Hungary is calling for closer economic cooperation between the EU and EAEU, towards which cooperation between our two countries represents a good foundation,” he said.