Hungary strongly supports Serbia’s integration into the European Union, which "the southern neighbour appreciates”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after meeting Serbian foreign minister Ivan Mrkic in Budapest on 7 October 2013.

The sides noted that thanks to good neighbourly relations between their countries, large-scale border crossing development projects were under way, with one opened in May and two more in the pipeline, Bertalan Havasi, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Press Office, told MTI.

Prime Minster Orbán and Mr. Mrkic said developing the Budapest–Belgrade railway line was in the two countries’ mutual interest, and work by their railway companies was also being undertaken. They also agreed on the launching of a Hungarian–Serbian scholarship programme in the near future, Havasi said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi said it was in Hungary’s interests to continue to strengthen the „excellent system of relations” with Serbia which has developed in the recent past. After meeting Minister Mrkic, his counterpart, he told a news conference that Hungary supports the earliest possible commencement of accession negotiations with the EU. At the talks, Hungary will pay special attention to the situation of ethnic minorities, refugees and migration, he added.

Hungarian–Serbian relations have been developing very favourably in the recent period, Mr. Martonyi said. An atmosphere of trust has developed between the two countries, and this helps to quickly settle any disputes which may arise, regardless of whether they relate to the past the present or the future, he added.

A 2009 Serbian law that enabled minorities to set up their national councils played an important role in the development of bilateral relations, Martonyi said. This was a clearly favourable development in national minority policy, he added.

Another important event was the meeting of presidents in Curug in northern Serbia in June, a „gesture of reconciliation” demonstrating that „the two nations were drawing closer to each other,” Martonyi said.

The Minister also added that his Serbian counterpart had promised that a Serbian government decision would soon void a past resolution on the collective guilt of residents in Curug, Mosorin and Zabalj, three ethnic Hungarian villages in northern Serbia.

Minister Mkric said Belgrade strove to take Budapest’s advice into consideration during the course of talks with the EU. He added that ethnic minorities can contribute to strengthening the friendship between the two countries, and this was partly why the Serbian government had decided to void „the unacceptable resolutions” affecting three ethnic Hungarian villages.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)