There have been positive developments in several difficult issues of Hungarian-Romanian relations, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó said at a press conference after meeting his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Meleșcanu in the Romanian capital of Bucharest.
“We appreciate very much that according to their promise, the Romanian government managed to re-open the Catholic Gymnasium in Marosvásárhely/Târgu Mureș… and that the Romanian education bill was amended according to the proposals of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania”, Szíjjártó said after the meeting.
He said both Hungary and the ethnic Hungarian minority in Romania have a vested interest in improving bilateral relations. Szíjjártó said that with success stories as the ones mentioned, mutual trust can be rebuilt and can become the foundation upon which even difficult issues can be solved. “We have recently done very much in order to have Hungarian-Romanian relations show dialogue and strategic partnership and we must also recognize that the Romanian government has done a lot in this sense”.
The two ministers also discussed several infrastructure development programs, such as upgrades of a gas pipeline linking the two countries, a Budapest-Kolozsvár/Cluj-Bucharest express rail line and connecting the Hungarian M4 and Romanian A3 motorways.
When asked whether the two sides discussed the issue of the upcoming 100th anniversary of Romanian unification – a sore point for Hungary, as it had lost a significant chunk of its territory to Romania after World War I – Szíjjártó said: “We must accept that certain historic dates have different meanings to different peoples and nations. A historic date can be (cause for) joy on one side and pain on the other. We must respect that and not force our own feelings upon the other. I asked that we mutually respect the feelings of the other and that we should not impose our position on the other side.”
Title image: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szíjjártó meets his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Meleșcanu in Bucharest. MTI/Mitko Sztojcsev
