Djuric meets with Szijjarto in Budapest

BUDAPEST - Serbian FM Marko Djuric, who is visiting Hungary on his first bilateral trip abroad, met with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Budapest on Friday afternoon.

Thanking Szijjarto for Hungary's positions on the so-called Kosovo's Council of Europe (CoE) membership bid and a resolution on Srebrenica, Djuric said Hungary would always have Serbia's support.

Djuric and Szijjarto discussed bilateral relations as well as current political affairs and the situation in the region.

"Thanks to President Aleksandar Vucic and PM Viktor Orban, Serbia-Hungary relations have been transformed greatly," Djuric said at a press conference with Szijjarto.

Conveying a message from Vucic and the Serbs, Djuric said the friendship and the support provided by Hungary would not be forgotten in the years to come.

"Serbia will be a dependable partner in preservation of stability. We consider the Hungarians as our brothers," Djuric said, expressing gratitude for the level of minority rights exercised by ethnic Serbs in Hungary.

Szijjarto said Hungary would vote against a UN General Assembly resolution on Srebrenica and reiterated Budapest's stance on the so-called Kosovo's CoE membership application.

"Such a resolution is aimed at demonising a nation and it would be primitive," Szijjarto said.

He added that, amid heightened tensions across the region, wars and an assassination attempt in a neighbouring country, friendship and cooperation were very significant.

"The alliance between Hungary and Serbia is exceptionally and immeasurably important for Hungary," he said, highlighting the good treatment of ethnic Hungarians in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina.

He added that Hungary's energy security depended on Serbia to a large extent and that there were plans for various joint projects in the future.