xinhua.net
English.news.cn 2010-11-27 06:00:30
BELGRADE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian President Viktor Orban on a state visit to neighboring Serbia on Friday offered his country's continued support for Belgrade's efforts to become a member of the European Union.
Meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Orban confirmed Hungary's strategy of facilitating the European accession process for the entire West Balkan region, which includes Serbia. Hungary is scheduled to assume the rotating presidency of the EU from Belgium on January 1, 2011.
"We have a common future and our two countries do not have different perspectives," said Orban. "Before Serbia are 10 fantastic future years and the EU is our common future."
Orban explained that the priorities for Serbia were economic growth, job creation and social inclusion, particularly with respect to ethnic minorities.
Serbian President Tadic said Serbia was working toward candidacy of the EU in 2011, and stressed that Hungary's support for the EU aspirations of Serbia was appreciated.
"Viktor Orban is an old friend of Serbia, and my personal friend and he supports our European integration," stated Tadic.
He also indicated that although the historical relationship between Hungary and Serbia has had its "ups and downs," the " overall bilateral cooperation between the two countries is good." He said the Serbian and Hungarian peacekeeping commitment to Cyprus was an example of cooperation in the sphere of defense.
After his meeting with the visiting Orban, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said much more needed to be done in the area of trade. Although a 30 percent increase between the two countries had been recorded in the previous year, the actual volume of trade remains low.
Cvetkovic stressed that the talks on the improvement of relations between the two countries included several topics, among which are Serbia's EU integration, Serbia-Hungary cooperation at the regional level, economic cooperation and minority issues.
Cvetkovic underscored that Hungary offered to help Serbia on its EU pathway, adding that he and Orban discussed the possibility of creating a direct line between the two governments so that certain issues could be addressed in the shortest possible period.
The Hungarian prime minister said that both governments should seek to eliminate obstacles to the development of economic cooperation. He said that Hungary regards Serbia as a country with good economic prospects with all of the necessary conditions for growth.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
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