On May 26, 2020, E.S. Mister. Péter Szijjártó The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary visited Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Alba-Iulia where he held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania H.E. Mr. Bogdan Aurescu, with Mr. Kelemen Hunor, President of UDMR and with Mons. Archbishop Gergely Kovács.
In Bucharest, Péter Szijjártó said Hungary wants to develop cooperation with Romania on the basis of mutual respect and wants to further develop the reasonable cooperation it had during the pandemic, Hungary is interested in strengthening cooperation in the Central European region and bases its bilateral relations on mutual respect. "We respect our partners, but as a nation of over 1,000 years, we expect this respect from them as well," Szijjártó underlined. He added, that it is also in the interest of the 1.5 million Hungarians in Transylvania that the two countries "be on good terms with each other". During his meeting in Bucharest, Péter Szijjártó asked his Romanian counterpart that Romania consider the Hungarian community living on its territory as a resource, just as Hungary sees the Romanian national community living in Hungary. The Minister stated that since the governance of Fidesz it has increased five times the budget support compared to the previous period, for the national minorities in Hungary, so that the budget of the Romanian community has increased to the same extent. And the new law submitted to the Hungarian Parliament on nationalities stipulates that the buildings used by them, for educational or cultural purposes, will become the property of the national communities in Hungary. The Hungarian side welcomes that Romania also supports Romanians in Hungary, just as it considers it natural for Hungary to support the survival of Hungarians living beyond its borders. Due to the economic development program launched in the neighboring countries by Hungary, so far investments in Romania worth 250 million euros have been made. The Hungarian side is open to conclude an agreement on the continuation of this program, in accordance with the request of the Romanian side. The works to connect the gas networks between the two countries will be completed soon, which will make it possible to transport natural gas from Romania to Hungary, so that, in the first period, 1.75 billion cubic meters of gas will be transported annually. A new highway connection between the two countries is expected by August, the Hungarian foreign minister said. Péter Szijjártó added that Hungary is interested in a good relationship and would be happy if Hungarians were not the subject of the Romanian election campaign. He expressed hope that "unfortunate statements" in this regard would not be repeated.
During the meeting with Kelemen Hunor in Cluj-Napoca, it was said that: “we had a very difficult period behind us, we have to learn to live with the epidemic. The support of the Hungarian government - protective equipment, masks, disinfectants - arrived on time. During the meeting, Kelemen Hunor requested that Romanian citizens be allowed to pass through the transit corridors in Hungary 24 hours a day.
