Vucevic: We are grateful to Hungary for its fair treatment of the Serbian community in Kosovo

The Minister of Defense of Serbia, Milos Vucevic, met today in Belgrade with the Minister of Defense of Hungary, Kristof Szalaj-Bobrovnczky, and on that occasion expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian armed forces for their professional attitude in carrying out their tasks as members of KFOR, but also for their fair and humane attitude towards the Serbian community in Kosovo.

The ministers of the two countries agreed that the military cooperation between Serbia and Hungary was at an extremely good level, RTV reports.

Vucevic assessed the meeting with the Hungarian delegation as an open and friendly conversation, which, he said, was another in a series of confirmations of the historically best relations between Serbia and Hungary.

He said that it had been jointly established that it was possible to improve cooperation in the field of competence of the two ministries and stated that there had been talks of military-military cooperation, military-economic, military-technological, and military-scientific cooperation.

"I believe that a new chapter in defense cooperation between Hungary and Serbia is ahead of us," Vucevic told reporters after the meeting at the Guard House in Topcider.

He pointed out that the bilateral relations between Serbia and Hungary were at a historic peak thanks, in his opinion, to the phenomenal relations between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

He reported that in the meeting the war in Ukraine had been discussed, the political situation in Europe and the world, and also the events in the region, and added that they had once again conveyed Serbia's position on Kosovo to the Hungarian delegation.

"We shared with our northern neighbors our concerns regarding the unilateral acts of the administration in Pristina and jointly analyzed the situation in the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other neighboring countries in order to ensure that we all have an interest, at least for Hungary and Serbia, I am sure that we have an interest in keeping the peace and stability in the area of the Western Balkans," Vucevic said.

In this context, he stated that Serbia was grateful for the engagement of Hungarian soldiers and officers, that is, the armed forces in the territory of Kosovo.

He stated that Serbia's policy was undoubtedly clear; that our road to European integration went through Budapest and pointed out that Hungary was to a large extent the most sincere friend and ally of our country in the European integration processes, and that it had never hidden it.

"They always had the courage to represent Serbian interests in the best possible way within all EU institutions, and we recognize Hungary's sincere desire for Serbia to become a member of the EU," Vucevic added.

Minister Szalaj-Bobrovnczky thanked him for the invitation and stated that this was his first official visit to Belgrade.

He pointed out that the Western Balkan region was of strategic importance for Hungary and that throughout history they had paid great attention to that region.

"We believe that Serbia is a key factor in that area. From a political point of view, we strongly support Serbia joining the European Union because we believe that it would contribute to better stability in the region and serve the interests of Serbia," Szalaj-Bobrovnczky said.

He stated that there had also been talks about the war in Ukraine and added that both countries were committed to concluding peace negotiations as soon as possible in order to end the war.

"We agreed that in this kind of atmosphere in the time to come, we had to continue to cooperate because for us that time will cause concern on various levels both in terms of security and economic issues," said Szalaj-Bobrovnczky.

He pointed out that the military cooperation between Serbia and Hungary was at an extremely good level and that it would be continued in various forms and at all levels.

During the meeting, he stated, there had also been talks about cooperation in the field of the defense industry and he pointed out that Serbia and Hungary needed to continue to build their industrial capacities in order to increase security.