During his one-day visit to the Netherlands, Minister Szijjártó met with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok, inaugurated the renovated Hungarian Embassy in The Hague, met with business partners, with Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fernando Arias, High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier, and held a lecture at Leiden University.
Following a meeting with his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade underlined that Hungary bases its foreign policy on mutual respect and shows respect to others, and expects the same in return. He added that the Hungarian government rejects all general criticism with relation to the state of the rule of law, but is always prepared to provide responses to our partners with relation to concrete issues.
Minister Szijjártó together with his Dutch counterpart inaugurated the renovated building of the Hungarian Embassy in The Hague, and pointed out that Hungary has an interest in constructive and mutually advantageous cooperation with the Netherlands, adding that this year the two countries are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. “We have great respect for the Netherlands and for the Dutch people, and although we have disputes and see the world differently with relation to certain issues, this cannot be a hindrance to cooperation with relation to many important issues”, he declared.
Mr. Szijjártó cited, amongst others, strong defence cooperation within the framework of NATO, the joint standpoint with relation to energy security, and the fact that the Netherlands provides consular services to Hungarian nationals in eight locations around the world, with Hungary reciprocating these services at three locations. The Minister also underlined that Netherlands is Hungary’s seventh most important trade partner, with Dutch companies realising the eight highest level of investment in Hungary while creating a total of some 15 thousand workplaces. In closing, the Hungarian Foreign Minister welcomed the fact that the Dutch government has shown itself to be open to cooperation with relation to supporting Christian communities in the Middle East.
Minister Szijjártó also had talks with Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Fernando Arias. Following the meeting the minister announced that Hungary contributes 35 000 EUR to the construction of a new facility, the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).
The Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade held a bilateral meeting with Lamberto Zannier, the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the situation of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.
As the closure of the day, Minister Szijjártó gave a lecture at Leiden University about the Hungarian perspective on the future of Europe. After the lecture he answered the questions from the audience of 180 persons.
(MTI) (Photos: MTI / KKM / Matyas Borsos)
