Péter Balázs paid an official visit to Serbia on May 29, at the invitation of his counterpart Vuk Jeremic. In addition to holding talks with the head of Serbian diplomacy, he met Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. After his Belgrade talks, Mr Balázs visited Subotica, one of the most important administrative, cultural and intellectual centres of the ethnic Hungarian community in Vojvodina.

The talks focused on the further animation of good neighbourly relations, eliminating any potential obstacles as well as preparing the meeting of the Prime Ministers. They agreed on a date for the visit: the Serbian Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive in Budapest on July 6.

The foreign ministers stated that economic co-operation is developing well. Bilateral trade has grown by 22 percent over twelve months. Besides the larger Hungarian investors (Hungarian Savings Bank, MOL Oil Company) about 500 small and medium-sized enterprises of mixed ownership operate in Serbia. It was only the day before the foreign ministers met that the Hungarian-Serbian Chamber of Trade and Industry held its inaugural meeting.

On the subject of energy co-operation, Mr Balázs and Mr Jeremic highlighted the importance of further fine-tuning. Serbia plays a central role in the planned South Stream gas pipeline project whose completion is in Hungary’s interest, just as the Nabucco pipeline’s is.

The two governments are giving support, as far as they are able, to the extension of border crossing points as well as opening new ones. They regard the reopening of a Budapest-Belgrade air link as important after the decision by the Serbian parliament made this possible.

Mr Balázs confirmed it is in Hungary’s interest to further facilitate contact between the citizens of the two countries – among them ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina. For this reason, Hungarian diplomacy has consistently supported scrapping the visa regime between Serbia and countries of the Schengen zone as soon as possible. There is a chance this could happen within the foreseeable future, since the European Commission has given a positive assessment thus far of Serbia’s implementation of a roadmap for the elimination of the visa requirement.

At the talks, the two ministers elaborated on Hungary’s help in the past and in future of its southern neighbour for European integration.

They addressed problems concerning Hungarians in Vojvodina. Hungary would like the reform process which Serbia is undertaking – covering modernisation of the judicial system, establishment of regional local governments and regulation of provincial autonomy – to increase rather than curtail minorities’ ability to exercise their legal rights. Another important and delicate issue for us: we urged Serbia to crack down with the full force of the law on offenders against ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina after several unfortunate attacks of this kind over the past few months. Mr Jeremic made a promise to this effect. The head of Serbian diplomacy was open to the Hungarian initiative to set up a body of historians from both countries to uncover facts of their common past, including details of the 1942 bloodbath in Novi Sad and the violent acts committed against Hungarians in 1944-45.

At the press conference following the foreign ministers’ meeting in Belgrade, Mr Balázs pointed out that relations between the two governments were good and neighbourly. This did not mean that they were problem-free; only that there was a will to resolve problems quickly and effectively.

After the Belgrade talks FM Balázs and Jeremic drove together Subotica to meet Hungarian and Serbian representatives of the local government. There the hosts briefed the two ministers on the affairs and problems of the town and the region.

Mr Balázs called his Serbian colleague’s decision to travel with him in the same car to Subotica a worthy gesture.

(May 29, 2009)