Szijjarto: as part of its EU Presidency, Budapest will look for additional opportunities to assist Yerevan and Baku in normalizing relations

ArmInfo. "We live in difficult, turbulent times, full of dangers.  There are wars and armed conflicts in different parts of the world that are causing pain to many people." Minister of  External Economic Relations and Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto announced on May 6 at a press conference in Hungary.

According to him, after listening to politicians in different parts of the world, it becomes obvious that if peaceful solutions to the existing conflicts are not found in a short time, the world will approach the third world war.

"Unfortunately, the Caucasus region has also witnessed conflicts and wars over the past few decades, which have created difficulties and caused suffering to people living in this region. Our goal has always been to promote peace, including in the Caucasus region. Therefore, we welcome the significant steps undertaken by Armenia and Azerbaijan towards peace to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement," Szijjarto said.

At the same time, he emphasized that Hungary would like to contribute to achieving peace between Yerevan and Baku. The diplomat emphasized that it was for this purpose that Armenia and Bulgaria intensified their diplomatic relations 1.5 years ago. He pointed to the intensification of economic relations between the two countries, the achievement of an agreement on the opening of diplomatic missions in the capitals of the two countries, as well as the launch of a direct flight between Yerevan and Budapest from July this year.

"In addition, ahead of our Presidency in the EU, we were able to take steps to develop the partnership between Armenia and the EU. We are going to develop an agenda for Armenia-EU partnership, as well as start a dialogue between the two sides on visa liberalization, and we hope that both of these initiatives will be successful," he said.

Answering a question about the priorities of Hungary's EU Presidency in the context of relations between Yerevan and Brussels, Szijjarto reiterated that within the framework of its Presidency, Budapest will look for additional opportunities to assist in resolving conflicts in neighboring countries.

"We look forward to our Presidency in the EU and have assured our Armenian and Azerbaijani partners of our readiness to provide assistance, and we hope that the agreement that is expected to be signed will ensure long-term peace and stability for both countries that deserve it," the Hungarian minister concluded.