President Iohannis welcomed by Hungary's President in Budapest

President Klaus Iohannis was welcomed in Budapest on Wednesday by his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novak.

The Presidential Administration reported that "the visit takes place in the context of an increased dynamic of high-level contacts, after the official visit of President Katalin Novak to Bucharest in September 2022 and the participation in the 8th Summit of the Three Seas Initiative, hosted by the President of Romania in September 2023."

"This is the first visit at head of state level to Budapest in the last 14 years and it is an opportunity to discuss, at this level, the state of the Strategic Partnership relationship and the prospects for its development, as well as concrete ways to deepen the bilateral dialogue," the source said.

President Klaus Iohannis will show in Budapest that the Strategic Partnership between the two countries "represents a fundamental instrument aimed at structuring bilateral cooperation on new, modern, pragmatic and mutually respectful bases, for the benefit of all Romanian and Hungarian citizens, regardless of ethnicity."

Iohannis will reiterate Romania's interest and openness to "constructive, pragmatic and transparent cooperation with Hungary," "with a view to developing projects of common interest and achieving concrete results, based on and in the spirit of the principles and values included in the fundamental documents that define the parameters of the bilateral relationship."

The two Presidents will analyse the current regional, European and global situation in the light of Russia's war against Ukraine, focusing on security, energy, food and supply chain implications. In this context, support measures for the most affected partners in the region, in particular the Republic of Moldova, will also be addressed.

As far as the European agenda is concerned, the priorities of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Hungary will hold in the second half of 2024, will be also discussed.