Hungary and Croatia will be setting up a joint committee for energy issues next year, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's Minister of State Zsolt Németh declared in Zagreb on Wednesday.

Mr Németh, who took part in the 8th session of the Hungarian-Croatian joint committee, stated that making Central Europe stronger and continuing the enlargement of the EU and NATO are in the interest of both Hungary and Croatia, which thus defines bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Hungarian MFA State Secretary called Croatia's accession to the EU this year a great success and stated that Hungary supported Zagreb's quest to join the EU's free-travel Schengen zone.

Energy-related issues are of primary importance in cooperation between the two countries, said Mr Németh, adding that cooperation between Hungarian state oil and gas company MOL and its Croatian peer INA, as well as the creation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal are major challenges. Mr Németh and his Croatian counterpart also signed a bilateral health care agreement at the meeting.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)