Hungarian Foreign Minister Visits Tbilisi

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó visited Tbilisi on March 11-12, where he met Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, and Education Minister Mikheil Chkhenkeli.

The Hungarian top diplomat’s meeting with the Ministers at the Government Chancellery prioritized education as a key cooperation field between the countries, the Government press service reported.

It said that Minister Szijjártó and Georgian Education Minister Chkhenkeli signed a memorandum of understanding, which supports deeper ties between the states in science and technology domains.

In a separate meeting with FM Zalkaliani, the parties highlighted that Georgia “is ready” to enhance political and economic reforms to prepare for applying for EU membership in 2024.

Moreover, as the Foreign Ministry reported, the Georgian top diplomat stressed the issue of arbitrary detentions along the occupation line, as well as continued “annexation, occupation and illegal borderization” of Georgian territories by Russia.

According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry statement, the Hungarian top diplomat spoke in support of Georgia’s 2024 EU application plan, underscoring that further enlargement is necessary to strengthen the 27-member bloc.

“The EU is constantly losing its economic and political power on the global stage, and it is absolutely important that we reverse this process. The only way to do this is to speed up the enlargement of the Union and find new partners,” the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated in its part.

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