János Martonyi gave a speech at the 19th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on 27 April 2012. The Foreign Minister of Hungary outlined the directions and the results of the search for solutions to the economic and financial problems in the European Union.

The EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is organised in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei on 26-27 April 2012. The joint session of the two organisations is chaired by High Representative Catherine Ashton from the side of the EU and by Mohamed Bolkiah, Bruneian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the side of the ASEAN. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Cambodia, the state currently chairing the Asian organisation provided information on the political and economic processes in the Southeast Asian region.

High Representative Catherine Ashton introduced the economic processes and the results of crisis management in Europe.

Reacting to the speech of the Head of the European External Action Service, János Martonyi also highlighted the directions and the results of the search for solutions to the economic and financial problems in the EU. He emphasised that the European Union and the euro zone do not constitute part of the problem, but part of the solution regarding the global economic crisis. The institutional structure and the legal system of the EU with a history of more than half a century can largely contribute to the strengthening of global governance and legislation; this is the special mission and responsibility of the European integration. If we join this all to the results of the ASEAN as a regional integration, the cooperation of the two organisations can significantly promote global governance and the establishment of universal norms, which can open up new ways to prevent and manage global financial and economic crises in the future. At the same time, he emphasised that the competitiveness of an EU Member State does not depend on whether it is has joint the euro zone or not, which is supported by the economic growth and improved foreign trade numbers of several non-euro-zone countries in the EU. Mr Martonyi underlined the importance of the establishment of the economic union as well. He also called attention to the fact that the gradual development of the political union is a precondition for the economic union. Addressing the same issue, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle gave a speech with similar content on behalf of Germany.

The Foreign Minister of Hungary was granted an audience with Sultan Hassan-al Bolkiah, the monarch of Brunei. János Martonyi had bilateral discussions with Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei and Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN on 26 April 2012. The head of Hungarian diplomacy called his negotiating partners’ attention to the ASEAN-Hungary Business Conference to be organised in Budapest in the autumn of 2012.

János Martonyi will give a further speech at the meeting in Brunei, requesting the member states of both organisations to support the Danube-Mekong cooperation initiative.

(kormany.hu)