Hungarian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó met United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Eurasian Affairs Hoyt Brian Yee and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Diplomacy Amos Hochstein on Tuesday to discuss Hungarian-American economic cooperation and Europe's energy security.

The State Secretary said that allowing US natural gas exports to Europe would significantly enhance energy security for Hungary and Europe and asked the US officials to pass on Hungary's request for the US to come to a decision on the issue as soon as possible. At present, there are two proposals before US congress to enable the export of American gas to allied countries.

DownloadPhoto: Gergely Botár

He also highlighted the fact that Hungary has played a key role in European energy supply thanks to its geographical location and due to its major storage capacity, adding that LNG terminals to be built in Croatia would be indispensable for the region's energy security.

Regarding bilateral ties, the negotiating partners both said they regarded economic cooperation as successful. Bilateral trade increased by 24 percent to over USD 5 billion last year, while Hungarian exports grew by 34 percent to USD 3.3 billion.

(Prime Minister's Office)