Minister of State for European Affairs Enikő Győri represented Hungary in Vienna at the panel discussion “Returning to Europe: 10 years of EU integration”, along with Miroslav Lajčák, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia and Igor Senčar, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia.

Minister of State Győri attended the conference upon the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria Sebastian Kurz and on the sidelines of the event she also met with Michael Linhart, Secretary General of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador Judith Gebetsroithner, European Policy Advisor to the Chancellor. During the discussion they also touched upon the Ukrainian crisis, with respect to which, they agreed that Europe needed to assist Ukraine in constructing its democratic state structures.

Download

Ms Győri underlined that the situation and the rights of minorities in Ukraine require special attention, in which she is counting on the cooperation of the new Kiev leadership. They agreed that negotiations are required with Russia, also involving the Ukrainian government, in order to resolve the conflict.

Special emphasis was made of the diversification of energy routes and procurement sources with a view to reducing energy dependence.

Parties unanimously urged for the further enlargement of the European Union, while with respect to the impending institutional changes they agreed that further coordination will be required among the medium-sized EU Member States – like Hungary and Austria – in order to ensure appropriate representation in the EU institutions.

During the discussion mention was also made of the fact that the traditionally close and diverse Austrian-Hungarian relations point beyond the differences of opinion concerning the Land Act and the banking tax. With respect to the former, parties stated that both sides are interested in resolving their differences.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)