Minister Zbigniew Rau visits Budapest
29.09.2020
“Poland and Hungary can count on each other in these difficult times,” emphasized Minister Rau during his talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Péter Szijjártó. “We sustained our intensive dialogue even amidst the toughest restrictions imposed due to the pandemic,” stressed the chief of Polish diplomacy.
The Polish and Hungarian foreign ministers shared their experiences of fighting COVID-19. Minister Rau thanked his interlocutor for the facilitations which the V4 citizens, Polish nationals included, enjoy despite the closed borders while entering the Hungarian territory. “The V4 countries will continue to support one another particularly strongly when it comes to sharing information on fighting the pandemic,” noted Minister Rau.
The ministers also spoke about further development of bilateral cooperation, including development projects and humanitarian aid. The officials expressed their satisfaction at the memorandum of understanding on development cooperation and humanitarian aid in response to humanitarian crises and persecution of religious minorities worldwide, signed in August 2020 by the foreign ministries of the two countries.
One of the most important issues discussed during the consultations was regional cooperation. “We are happy that the Visegrad Group, which next year will mark its 30th anniversary, remains invariably a key element of regional cooperation,” declared Minister Rau. He went on to talk about the experiences of the V4 cooperation and the outcomes of the meetings hosted so far by the Polish presidency of the V4 as well as outlined plans for further actions. The minister emphasised the importance of the efforts of Polish, Hungarian and Czech prime ministers to complete the budget procedure as soon as possible to release EU funds for 2021-2027, launch the V4’s plan for Belarus, which will be soon presented to EU leaders, and implement the European Commission’s new solutions concerning migration. These topics were also discussed by Polish and Hungarian foreign ministers during their meeting in Budapest.
Furthermore, the two officials talked about security policy, including the cooperation within NATO and the Bucharest Nine, as well as the situation in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The two top diplomats highlighted the importance of very good relations with US partners. They also spoke about the situation in the Western Balkans and the prospects for the integration of Western Balkan countries with the EU.
MFA Press Office
Photo: Gabriel Piętka