Hungary supports the efforts of the United States to promote a political settlement in Syria and the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Deputy State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Szabolcs Takács said in Washington on 29 June.

Takács held talks with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Brent Hartley and other officials of the State Department on Syria, Iran, the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Afghanistan, China, Japan, the Korean peninsula, and Myanmar.

The two sides discussed overlaps in Hungarian and US foreign policy and the ways and means of supporting one another.

Concerning Syria, Takács said that Hungary supported the joint initiative of Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for resuming the Geneva process and paving the way for a political settlement.

Takács expressed hope that Kerry would put forward a plan that breaks the stalemate in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.

The talks were marked by a constructive and friendly atmosphere, with no new critical remarks made by the US side, the deputy state secretary said.

On behalf of the Visegrád Four, of which Hungary is currently president, Takács outlined the group’s plans regarding transatlantic relations to five Democrat members of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. The meeting was also attended by delegates from the four Visegrád countries.

(MTI, MFA)