Romanian president makes first official visit to Hungary in 14 years

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis recently made an official visit to Hungary. He is the first Romanian head of state to visit Budapest in the last 14 years.

Iohannis, who was welcomed by Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novák in a ceremony held in the courtyard of the Sándor Palace, went to Budapest a day after receiving the visit of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Hungary is set to take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from mid-next year.

"My visit today to Budapest, at the invitation of madam president Katalin Novák, is an important signal regarding the future development of our bilateral relationship. Today, I continued the dialogue with madam president, following her visit to Bucharest last year and the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Bucharest, where we were together in September," said Iohannis in a joint press statement with the president of Hungary, cited by Europa Libera.

Klaus Iohannis expressed Romania's willingness to strengthen the dialogue and bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Romania, according to Iohannis, aims for this dialogue to have "a positive dynamic, development, and deepening, in the interest of all our citizens, regardless of their ethnic origin."

His statements were akin to a continuation of those made after his meeting with president Zelensky, and the discussions regarding the ethnic Romanians living in Ukraine.

In Budapest, Iohannis stated that individuals belonging to national minorities contribute to building and strengthening bridges between their citizenship state, which is solely responsible for protecting their rights, and the related state. Additionally, he addressed the protection of identity rights for ethnic Romanians in Hungary, especially regarding media and mother-tongue education.

The two presidents also discussed the development of economic cooperation, infrastructure development, and ensuring energy security.

Moreover, they talked about the continuation of the EU enlargement process. "We reiterated Romania's strong support for opening negotiations for EU membership with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova by the end of this year," Iohannis said.

The topic of Romania's accession to the Schengen Area was also raised during their discussions. Iohannis mentioned that Romania is counting on Hungary's support and thanked the Hungarian president for her clear support for this expansion. He highlighted that Hungary could help persuade other Western neighbors about the importance of Romania's Schengen membership.