Armenia and Hungary discuss expansion of cooperation at first political consultations
YEREVAN, 12 November. /ARKA/. The first political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Hungary after the restoration of diplomatic relations were held in Budapest on 11 November, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
The Armenian side was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan, the Hungarian side was represented by State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Staray.
The sides exchanged views on the possibilities of further development of the bilateral agenda, as well as on regional issues. They stressed the need to expand the bilateral legal framework, activate ties in trade, economy, culture, education, tourism and other areas.
During the meeting the sides touched upon in detail the efforts aimed at deepening Armenia's partnership with the EU, and in particular, the issues of cooperation with the Hungarian counterparts in that direction.
Deputy Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan also touched upon Armenia's steps towards the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus, the recent discussions in the process of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, as well as re-presented the ‘Crossroads of Peace’ project elaborated by the Armenian Government.
About Armenian-Hungarian relations
Armenia terminated diplomatic relations with Hungary in 2012 after Budapest extradited to Azerbaijan Ramil Safarov, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Hungary for the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan. Safarov was pardoned in his home country by President Aliyev.
On December 1, 2022, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Hungary agreed to restore full diplomatic relations. In May of that year - after 11 years of absence of diplomatic relations - the countries appointed non-resident ambassadors: Anna Maria Szikó (residence: inTbilisi) was appointed to serve also as Hungary's ambassador to Armenia, and Ashot Smbatyan (part-time ambassador to Georgia, residence in Tbilisi) was appointed as Armenia's ambassador to Hungary. -0-
On 10 September this year, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Yerevan that Hungary could help Armenia and Azerbaijan to finalce the peace treaty. -0-
