The Hungarian Government has every reason to support Montenegro’s accession to the European Union and NATO, and to encourage the Hungarian business community to build extensive relations with Podgorica, Viktor Orbán said after the meeting. Hungary looks upon Montenegro, a success story based on its economic indicators, as a country of far greater significance than its size would warrant and that plays a major role in the maintenance of regional stability.

As regards accession, EU Member States today are less receptive, less open to enlargement than they once were; there appears to be a state of “enlargement apathy” in the traditional European regions, the Hungarian Prime Minister believes. It is therefore one of the missions of Hungarian foreign policy to fight this enlargement apathy as Hungary is committed to the Transatlantic integration of Montenegro and its region within the shortest possible time. A desire for enlargement must be induced in the European Union. We have no reason to make Montenegro wait, he said.

The reason for the decline in Montenegrin exports to Hungary is the problem of Magyar Alumínium és Kereskedelmi (Mal) Zrt.; more specifically, the red sludge disaster sustained and caused by the company that occurred in October 2010. As a result, the company has at present a much lower economic capability than in previous times, and Montenegrin-Hungarian trade relations have fallen victim to this. At the same time, Hungary continues to regard Mal Zrt. as one of its most important companies and the Government wishes to reinforce its position to a degree that permits the restoration of cooperation in the aluminium industry between the two countries to the pre-sludge disaster level.

Foreign investments also determine the quality of cooperation between two countries, Prime Minister Orbán said. Hungary has extensive experience with foreign investors because Hungary is the region within the entire European Union that has forged the strongest bond with the EU’s economy. We believe that when a foreign investor goes to another country, he must first give respect to the nation of his choice and must also give respect to the people who work there. It must be made clear that while investors naturally wish to make a profit by going to another country, they also go there because their operation in that other country is likewise beneficial for the other party, Viktor Orbán said.

(kormany.hu)