János Martonyi has arrived in Brunei to participate in the EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on 26-27 April 2012. The Foreign Minister had a bilateral discussion with Erlinda F. Basilio, Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines on the first day of the meeting, mainly negotiating on issues of economy.

The 19th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is organised in Brunei, which is attended by Catherine Ashton, Head of the European External Action Service on behalf of Europe, and several European Foreign Ministers including Guido Westerwelle from Germany, William Hague from the United Kingdom, and Carl Bildt from Sweden. János Martonyi is the first Foreign Minister of Hungary participating in the ministerial meeting of the two regional organisations. Hungary has been a partner in the dialogue since 2004.

Foreign Minister János Martonyi’s meeting with his Philippine counterpart fits in with the global opening of Hungarian foreign policy, which includes opening towards Southeast Asia. The parties mainly discussed the improvement of bilateral economic relations during their talks. Mr Martonyi requested assistance from his Philippine counterpart to remove – as soon as possible – the administrative obstacles preventing Hungarian agricultural products, especially meat products, from entering the market of the Philippines with nearly 100 million consumers. The Undersecretary represents the Philippines in the multilateral meeting instead of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, who unexpectedly cancelled his participation in the Brunei conference for private reasons.

The Foreign Minister of Hungary gives a speech at the conference on 27 April 2012, by which he calls attention to the Danube-Mekong cooperation initiative, which plays an important role in building relations with Asia. As a follow-up to the Asia-Europe Dialogue (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Gödöllő during the Hungarian EU Presidency, the Foreign Ministry of Hungary organizes an academic conference in Budapest on 20-21 June 2012. The aim of the event is to specify the areas – including development, water management, and other fields – of an overarching cooperation between the Danube Strategy approved this year and the region of the Mekong River.

János Martonyi is received by the Sultan in Brunei. In addition, he has a meeting, among others, with Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN including ten Southeast Asian states, to exchange opinions.

(kormany.hu)