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13 May 2021 The members of the PFG with Hungary and the delegation of the Hungarian Parliament’s Directorate for Foreign Affairs

Thursday, 13 May 2021

PFG with Hungary Meets with Delegation of Hungarian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Directorate

The Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Hungary Predrag Rajic and the PFG members met, in the National Assembly House, with a delegation of the Directorate for Foreign Affairs of the Hungarian Parliament to discuss the improvement of relations between the two countries.

According to Predrag Rajic, the relations between Serbia and Hungary are at have reached a historically high, as evidenced by the frequent activities of Serbian officials and the good relations between President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Rajic informed the guests that the 68-member Parliamentary Friendship Group with Hungary ranks 17th in terms of size of the 182 parliamentary friendship groups in the National Assembly.

He highlighted the two countries’ historical and friendly relations, adding that there is still room for improvement in a variety of areas. He stressed the importance of parliamentary cooperation, because, he said, the Parliament consists of MPs who represent the voice of the people and can come up with concrete proposals for the further improvement of cooperation.

Speaking of cooperation between the two countries in terms of relations with national minorities, Rajic said that the Hungarian authorities take care of the Serbian national minority, as does the Serbian leadership of the Hungarian minority in Serbia.

"Serbian and Hungarian interests coincide to such a degree that we share almost everything except the language," Rajic underlined.

He outlined the important cultural history that connects the two countries, concluding that one gets to know a culture best by learning its language.

Rajic said he was looking forward to the upcoming visit of the Hungarian Ambassador at the end of May, who will on that occasion have a meeting with the members of the PFG with Hungary.

He also spoke about the successful immunisation process in Serbia, which has put Serbia and Hungary at the forefront of Europe.

The head of the delegation of the Hungarian Parliament’s Directorate for Foreign Affairs Peter Sardi said he was very pleased with the visit and agreed with Predrag Rajic that the relations between the two countries are at an enviable level.

Informing the hosts that the Hungarian Parliament’s Friendship Group with Serbia consists of 11 MPs, Sardi said the goal of this visit is to revive the parliamentary cooperation and invited the members of the PFG with Hungary to visit the Hungarian Parliament.

Reminding the attending that this year’s meeting of the Speakers of the Parliament of Southeast Europe would be in Budapest, he expressed hope that the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia take part in the coming meeting.

He stressed that the Hungarian administration fully supports Serbia’s European path.

At the end of the meeting, the officials concluded that the two countries have excellent overall bilateral relations, hoping that an exchange of parliamentary visits would be organised as soon as conditions, i.e. the coronavirus pandemic, allow.

The meeting was also attended by the following members of the PFG with Hungary: Vuk Mircetic, Luka Kebara, Mladen Boškovic, Goran Milic, Andrijana Pupovac, Marko Mladenovic, Lav Pajkic, Nevena Vujadinovic, Vesna Rankovic, Nevena Đuric, Gojko Palalic and Maja Grbic.