On 20 January 2025, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó paid a working visit to Bucharest, where he held talks with his Romanian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Emil Hurezeanu, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Barna Tánczos, Minister of Development, Public Works and Public Administration Attila Cseke, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja, and UDMR President Hunor Kelemen, and gave a presentation at the European Gas Conference in Bucharest.
Speaking about the talks in Bucharest, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó called the development of the infrastructure crossing the border of the two countries of strategic importance after the country's full Schengen membership came into effect on 1 January, which abolished border controls between the two countries. He welcomed the fact that the number of crossing points has now increased from twelve to twenty-two, thus reducing the average distance between crossing points from thirty-seven to twenty kilometers. He stressed that the number of people crossing the border will continue to increase, and that the necessary agreement has been prepared, and that the contract for the reconstruction of the St. Gellért Bridge in Magyarcsanád and the design of the railway line connecting Szeged with Timisoara has also been concluded.
Péter Szijjártó pointed out that Romania is a very important economic partner for Hungary, its third largest export market, and exports to the neighboring country reached another peak last year. He noted that several Hungarian companies have now become market leaders in Romania, and mentioned Mol, Wizz Air, Richter and Hell as examples. He also touched on energy cooperation, which greatly contributes to the security of supply of both countries, and stated that they have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the relationship even further. "Last year, 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas arrived in Hungary via the Hungarian-Romanian interconnector, and preparations are already underway in Romania for the extraction of a new offshore gas field, which could provide Central Europe with new sources by 2027, if all goes well.
We are interested in expanding our natural gas trade cooperation in this new situation. Negotiations on this have already started between our companies." – he added. He also addressed the project under which Hungary plans to import green energy from the Caucasus region in cooperation with Romania, Azerbaijan and Georgia. He said that the joint venture preparing for this is now being registered in Bucharest, and the CEO has already been appointed. Finally, the minister highlighted that experience shows that when the Hungarian Democratic Alliance in Romania (UDMR) is part of the Bucharest government coalition, things go much better in cooperation between the two countries. "In Romania, in the Romanian political elite, there is no question that you can trust the UDMR politicians, who represent serious added value in terms of government performance," he said.
Regarding his meeting with the new Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezenau, he said that they will place emphasis on practical cooperation, and they agreed that Central Europe needs peace, development and stability.
