Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban signed an Agreement on good neighbourly relations and strategic partnership between the two countries in Budapest today.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban signed an Agreement on good neighbourly relations and strategic partnership between the two countries in Budapest today.
Also, the line ministers signed seven documents on cooperation in the fields of economy, agriculture and diplomatic relations.
A joint session of the two governments was held at the seat of the government of Hungary, and before that, numerous bilateral meetings were organised.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Hungarian Prime Minister after the joint session of the two governments, Brnabic said that Hungary gives the greatest support to Serbia in the process of European integration and that this country is the third largest economic and trade partner of Serbia.
Brnabic voiced hope that the total trade exchange in 2021 will exceed €2 billion.
She expressed gratitude for the hospitality and underlined that Hungary is the only country with which Serbia has had six joint sessions until now.
Hungary is Serbia's most reliable partner on the European path, she reiterated and explained that this country provides us with professional, technical, development and any other type of assistance at all times in order to better prepare and implement everything that is necessary.
At all forums organised in Brussels or elsewhere, Hungary says every time unequivocally that Serbia should become a member of the EU as soon as possible and without hesitation gives the green light to open the chapters or clusters we are ready for and thus encourages Serbia's acceleration towards the EU, Brnabic underlined.
According to her, the relations with Hungary are at the highest level possible.
When it comes to economic cooperation, the Prime Minister underlined that there are more and more Hungarian investments, both in Vojvodina and throughout Serbia and expressed the hope that there will be more of them soon thanks to the Investment Fund which promotes the arrival of foreign companies in Serbia.
According to Brnabic, economic cooperation is constantly growing, and only from January to June 2021, exports to Hungary reached €528 million, i.e. they increased by 52.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
Hungary is a permanent, open partner that pays attention to both exports to Serbia and imports of goods from Serbia, the Prime Minister pointed out and specified that imports grew by 11.8 percent and reached €586 million.
Also, Hungary is continuously improving trade cooperation, and it is expected that this will be further expanded in the field of innovation and technology, she added.
Orban stated that the strategic cooperation between Serbia and Hungary can serve as a secure base for the future of the two countries and reiterated that the relations of Belgrade and Budapest are at a very high level.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said that the economic cooperation is getting better - from trade and investments to employment, and we are also connected by traffic infrastructure and border crossings.
Orban noticed that there are different phases in the development of the two countries’ economies, however, Serbia has excellent economic indicators and those phases in economic development will soon disappear.
He said that he expects Serbian investors to appear in the Hungarian economy soon and underlined that as of 1 October, Hungary will manage to provide transport of 8.5 billion cubic metres of gas through the Turkish stream, which leads to Hungary through Serbia.
That means a lot for Hungary, the Prime Minister underlined and recalled that so far Hungary has contributed to the supply of gas to Serbia, while now it will be the other way around, which is completely natural.
The Hungarian side will try to implement the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway project within the deadline set, and thus ensure an even better flow of goods and people between the two countries.
After today’s joint session of the two governments, in addition to the Strategic Partnership Agreement between Serbia and Hungary, several accompanying documents were signed.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic and Minister of Agriculture of Hungary Istvan Nagy signed the Memorandum of cooperation of young entrepreneurs of the two countries, and Minister of Technology and Innovation of Hungary Laszlo Palkovics and Minister of Economy Andjelka Atanaskovic signed the Memorandum of cooperation in the field of technology.
The interior ministers of Hungary and Serbia Sandor Pinter and Aleksandar Vulin respectively initialled the Protocol on mixed patrols along the joint border.
The Annual plan of provision of expert and technical assistance to Serbia in the process of European integration was signed by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto and Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic.
The foreign ministers of Serbia and Hungary Nikola Selakovic and Peter Szijjarto respectively initialled the Agreement on the training of diplomatic staff, whereas Szijjarto signed together with Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic the Agreement on the realisation of the project of fast passenger ships that will travel between the two countries.