The foreign minister has said restarting the work of the Hungarian-Romanian mixed committee on minority issues will open a new chapter in bilateral ties.
After meeting Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu in Gyula, southeast Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the mixed committee’s relaunch provided an opportunity to discuss and solve “problems that were earlier thought insurmountable”.
The minister also noted that the committee last met in 2011. He proposed a meeting as soon as possible to discuss important issues like the future of the Catholic secondary school in Targu Mures (Marosvásárhely).
Minister Szijjártó and Aurescu also signed an agreement to facilitate border traffic between the countries. Two 24-hour crossings will also open between Elek and Grăniceri (Ottlaka) as well as Dombegyház and Variaș (Kisvarjas), he said. The third motorway linking northern Hungary and northern Romania is expected to the opened in 2024. Meanwhile, the railway line leading from Békéscsaba in southern Hungary to the Romanian border will be widened to improve traffic on the Budapest-Bucharest-Constanța line, he added.