Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics has said that Hungary has a historic duty to support Croatia, as for eight hundred years the two nations have been through good times and bad times together.

On Monday, at an event in Budapest entitled ‘Together in Europe – 2nd Hungarian-Croatian Picnic’. Mr. Navracsics said that from the beginning Hungary has supported Croatia’s attempts to join the EU and NATO. In recent years relations between the two countries have been very good, he said, and hopefully they will continue to strengthen after Croatia’s accession to the EU.

He reminded his audience that it was last summer under the Hungarian presidency of the EU that Croatia successfully concluded its accession negotiations. The Hungarian government has always striven to assist and support Croatia, and it was among the first to ratify the accession treaty, he said.

Speaking of bilateral relations, he said that joint projects have come into being over the last twenty years, and cooperation in the border regions has been good. The Hungarian minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in Hungary play important roles in forming links between the two countries. He added that the Hungarian government is keen to support cultural diversity, even in the current difficult economic situation.

Croatia’s deputy prime minister Neven Mimica said that after his country’s accession it will cooperate closely with its neighbours, so that Central Europe can be a developing region as soon as possible. He thanked Hungary for its support, because without this, he said, the accession talks would not have been concluded successfully last summer. ‘A long history binds our two nations together, but what is even more important than this is that the members of each country respect each other,’ he said. He added that the minorities form the basis for cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Mimica said that bilateral relations can strengthen as a result of EU membership, and Hungary and Croatia can cooperate in creating EU policy.

The event was organised by the Foundation for a Civic Hungary, the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Hungarian-Croatian Friendship Circle. György Csóti, Fidesz MP and President of the Hungarian-Croatian Friendship Circle, pointed out that in two months’ time Croatia will also be an EU member, and that ‘Once again we will be together within a community of states.’ Within the Union the two nations will also help each other, be able to realise common objectives and be able to contribute to the attainment of EU goals, he said. He went on to say that Europe – and particularly the Central European region – will definitely be strengthened by Croatia’s accession.

Gordan Grlić Radman, Croatian ambassador to Hungary, said that at the second Hungarian-Croatian Picnic there was the opportunity for players in economic, political and cultural life to exchange ideas and experiences. The ambassador said that Hungary and Croatia are two friendly neighbouring states which for centuries lived together in a community of states and will soon meet again in the family of Europe. He added that Hungary has always supported Croatians on the road towards Europe.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)