Hungarian Foreign Minister had talks with Serbian Prime Minister in Serbia

Senta, Serbia, September 23 (MTI) – Hungary and Serbia want to tighten economic cooperation “because friendship is ever more important in challenging periods”, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday.

Hungarian Foreign Minister and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic attended the opening of vehicle cable producer Tisza Automotive’s plant in Senta (Zenta) in Vojvodina.

Hungarian-Serbian friendship has become especially important during the migrant crisis, and this needs to be expressed in everyday events such as developments implemented through joint efforts, Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto said that car production is a flagship industry for the Hungarian economy and all such investment projects show that Hungarian and Serbian workforces are able to meet European demands. Bilateral trade between Hungary and Serbia was record high at 1.7 billion euros last year and there was a 4 percent increase in the first six months of this year. He added, however, that the closing of the Roszke border crossing will show in the annual figure.

Vucic said the number of Hungarian investors in Serbia is on the increase and there is also growing interest in privatisation transactions.

“I am convinced that Serbia and Hungary face a bright common future,” he added.

The politicians also discussed problems caused by the migrant crisis.

Szijjarto said that neither the Hungarian nor the Serbian government would allow bilateral relations falling victim to the problems caused by migration.

He said he had talked to Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic on Tuesday and also discussed the economic problems that the closing of the Serbiab-Croatian border posed to Serbia. Migration is increasingly causing economic problems in Europe because new measures also affect people who want to cross the borders lawfully.