Strong Hungary-Slovenia Ties Contribute to Energy Security

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó welcomed the positive and reliable cooperation between Hungary and Slovenia.

In the current crisis situation a “reliable cooperation with our neighbors based on mutual respect is particularly valued,” Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a joint press conference with Matjaž Han, Slovenian Minister of Economic Development and Technology in Budapest on Tuesday.

According to Szijjártó, Hungarian-Slovenian ties are extremely useful to both sides. At the press conference, the Hungarian Minister said that both sides planned to further develop ties by mutually supporting investments in each other’s countries, MTI reports. He recalled that bilateral trade turnover approached 3 billion euros last year, increasing by 30 percent in the first six months of this year.

Large Hungarian companies have become regional players, Szijjártó stressed. MOL and OTP are about to become the largest participants in their respective markets – energy and banking – while Wizz Air is developing a hub in Slovenia,

Hungary-Slovenia cooperation contributes to energy security, the interlinked electricity networks of the two countries have been operating in test mode since June without any problems, the Minister highlighted. Szijjártó welcomed the regional power exchange to be set up with the participation of Hungary, Slovenia, and Serbia by the end of this year, which he claims could lead to lower energy prices.

There is no indication that the two have discussed the greatest sticking point between the two countries, their approach to immigration. While Hungary’s southern border has been protected by a fence since 2015, one of the first measures of Slovenia’s pro-migration government  – which was elected this spring – was to order the dismantling of the fence on the Slovenian-Croatian border. The decision has led to a massive spike in illegal migration.

Featured photo via Facebook/Szijjártó Péter