The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is in Budapest today, where the Second Session of the Serbian-Hungarian Strategic Cooperation Council was held. The Council session was attended by members of the governments of the two countries, who signed a number of bilateral documents after the session.
President Vučić met in Budapest with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, with whom he discussed military-technical cooperation, the construction of an oil pipeline, but also Serbia's desire to become the owner of 5 to 10 percent of the Hungarian Paks nuclear power plant.
"I am proud of the fact that in Prime Minister Orbán and his government we have not only a strategic political partner but also a sincere friend, and our ties are stronger than ever," said President Vučić.
After the meeting of the 12 working groups, a Session of the Serbia-Hungary Strategic Cooperation Council was held, at which six documents were signed: the Agreement between Serbia and Hungary on Legal Assistance in Civil Matters, the Program of Cooperation in the Field of Culture between the two ministries, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of Serbia and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary, the Extension of the Work Plan of Hungarian Experts in the Field of European Integration, the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and the Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
President Vučić and the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán signed a Joint Political Declaration.
"Honored Prime Minister of Hungary, we are happy when we come here and feel at home. I hope that you will feel the same when you come to Serbia. We have managed to reach significant agreements and we are on the right path to further improving our exceptional relations. Hungarian-Serbian relations are at the highest level in our history, and they can always be better. That is why I am grateful to you for your concrete work to make these ties even better. For us, all projects with you, in energy, transport, economy, police and military cooperation and mutual support in the political arena, are of great importance. Thank you, Viktor, once again, for your hospitality", emphasized President Vučić in his address to the Second Session of the Serbian-Hungarian Strategic Cooperation Council.
After signing the agreement, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Serbia and Hungary are bound by friendly relations, but also by the same ambition.
"No one is surprised anymore that Serbia and Hungary have strategic relations. There is a great deal of effort behind it, spanning decades. The driving force behind this work in the past decade is Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and I thank him for that. He has done everything to bring the relations between the two countries to a historic level. Serbia also has enough ambitions and both peoples want to gain a lot from the world. We need to establish a balance and seize the many opportunities that were previously missed and we must not allow ourselves to be influenced by the fate of the 20th century", the Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized, adding that a successful Serbia also encourages a successful Hungary and that this is a shared success and motive in the future. He also stated that the responses of Belgrade and Budapest to the new reality coincide.
"We will respond to the new reality by deepening Serbian-Hungarian relations. Security in the new reality must gain importance", concluded Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán and said that Europe must understand that it is not Serbia that needs the European Union, but that the European Union needs Serbia.
President Vučić said that the two countries have 173 signed bilateral agreements and that seven more were signed today. He added that he had discussed energy connectivity with Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, recalling that the study for the Alđo-Pančevo oil pipeline will soon be completed, after which construction will begin.
"Thank you for the friendship, and the bridge in those relations was represented by Ištvan Pastor and the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians party. All of that was done on the initiative and with the enormous energy and authority of Viktor Orban. The attitude of Serbs towards Hungarians and Hungary has changed drastically, and Viktor Orban is extremely popular in Serbia. We are deepening those ties with bilateral agreements, but we are also solving problems that we are tackling together. Our ties are getting deeper – essentially, structurally, politically, economically and interpersonally. I am grateful that we can talk about connecting our countries in the energy sphere, about investments in gas power plants, about the construction of power lines and the Pannonian Corridor network. Serbia will always be a reliable partner of Hungary, because we know that we will always have friends in Hungary in the same way that they can rightly expect from Serbia. Thank you for your support for our European path, it is important for us, as is military-technical cooperation, and I believe that it will be improved in various forms and at various levels. "Of course, we also talked about the situation in Ukraine, Europe and the world. I expressed some of my concerns and predictions, and I believe that it is therefore good that we have cooperation with Hungary in order to protect our countries from war conflicts and so that peace is a priority for everyone. Serbia will know how to be both a partner, an ally and a friend of Hungary", said President Vučić in his address to the media with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after the signing of bilateral agreements and the 2nd session of the Serbian-Hungarian Strategic Cooperation Council was held.
Source/Photo: www.predsednik.rs