Wlachovsky in Budapest: Slovakia Interested in Normal Relations with Hungary

Budapest, July 3 (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia has a strong interest in normal, peaceful relations with Hungary, with a positive agenda directed towards the future and not the past, said Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Wlachovsky after meeting his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Budapest on Monday. According to Wlachovsky, ties between Slovakia and Hungary cover many areas and are time-tested. The minister thanked Hungary for joining the other two Visegrad Four countries [the Czech Republic and Poland] in protecting Slovak airspace as of July 1. At the meeting, Wlachovsky stressed that Slovakia would like to see Sweden as a full-fledged NATO member at the Alliance summit in Vilnius next week and therefore hopes that the Hungarian Parliament will succeed in ratifying the accession of this Scandinavian country as soon as possible and without unnecessary delays. According to the Slovak minister, the Hungarians have declared that they are ready to "speed things up if the conditions are right". "Delaying this until the autumn would be a mistake. I firmly believe that Sweden's negotiations with Turkey and Hungary will lead to some form of speedy ratification. There are very strong appeals for this from our side because Sweden means a real strengthening of the Alliance," stressed Wlachovsky. The ministers also discussed current issues of bilateral, regional and European cooperation, strengthening relations in the areas of trade, defence and building transport and energy infrastructure, as well as security issues related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the NATO summit in Vilnius. zel/df