The Foreign Minister has said Hungary sees transatlantic relations as a priority and welcomes improvement of those ties.
Péter Szijjártó told a conference on the US and central Europe in Washington DC on Wednesday that “a couple of years back we understood our region was not really on the radar screen of US foreign policy… We are happy that central Europe is [now] considered a strategic location,” he said.
Regarding the region’s energy security, Minister Szijjártó said current infrastructural realities dictate that Hungary can only buy gas from Russia. It is up to the US and European allies to make it possible for Hungary to import gas from a Romanian offshore field as Hungary has met all infrastructural requirements for such transports, he said.
According to MTI, the Minister touched on the rule of law in Hungary and said the Hungarian government would not have been re-elected three times had it infringed on democratic norms.
On the recent European parliamentary elections, Minister Szijjártó said the central European region had played a significant role in the election of Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. The region’s growing economic strength and its internal cooperation have made central Europe a decision making factor in the EU, he said.
Photo credit: MTI