The foreign minister said Hungary and Austria can count on one another as friends and will continue to cooperate closely in the future. “Although new in the post of foreign minister, Michael Linhart is a good old friend, we have been working together for several years as he has served in various positions in the Austrian foreign ministry,” Péter Szijjártó said after meeting Linhart in Vienna on Tuesday.
Minister Szijjártó noted that Austria is the second major trading partner of and the third major foreign investor in Hungary. He welcomed that similarly to Hungary, Austria’s economy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and expressed trust that the two countries could economically help one another in the months and years to come. Minister Szijjártó said they were in full agreement as regards issues that pose the biggest challenges to the region. “We both stated our firm position concerning migration and agreed that we must in the first place protect our borders. We also agreed that the policy of encouraging migration to Europe must be stopped. Further, we also agreed that the Western Balkans must be integrated into the European Union as soon as possible,” Minister Szijjártó said.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter