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Giorgia Meloni congratulated Mr Orbán on Hungary’s successful EU presidency, with special regard to the adoption of the Budapest declaration on competitiveness and the opening of accession talks with Albania. She also highlighted that during the Hungarian presidency the EU had succeeded in achieving a breakthrough on the issue of the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
The two prime ministers reinforced their commitment to further intensifying bilateral partnership between Hungary and Italy. In the context of trade relations, they established with satisfaction that the value of trade between the two countries had reached EUR 14 billion in 2023. In the area of investments and trade, there is further scope for progress, in particular, in the field of infrastructure and the energy sector, the parties stated at the meeting.
The two prime ministers agreed to further intensify political dialogue and to continue their coordination efforts on the most important international issues; in particular, they discussed the situation in the Middle East and the issue of a fair and lasting peace in Ukraine based on the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law as well as their commitment to reconstruction, looking forward to the next Ukraine recovery conference which will be hosted in Italy in July 2025.
Mr Orbán and Ms Meloni established that cooperation between the two countries was excellent in the areas of security and defence within the boundaries of NATO, with special regard to the Italian participation with the involvement of 260 soldiers in the multinational battalion led by Hungary. They agreed to continue to support the NATO and EU initiatives serving to stabilise the Western Balkans, and to firmly stand for the integration of the countries of the region.
The meeting also served as an opportunity to discuss the problem of illegal migration, Mr Havasi reported. The two prime ministers called for increased cooperation with the countries of origin and transit involved, the management of the causes giving rise to emigration, and the fight against people smuggling and trafficking in the interest of preventing the loss of human lives. They agreed that the relevant legal framework must be urgently updated with a view to facilitating and accelerating returns from the European Union, with special regard to the clarification and confirmation of the term of ‘safe country of origin.’ They established that in harmony with EU and international law, it was necessary to explore new methods for the prevention of and fight against illegal migration, proceeding on the path opened by the Italy-Albania Agreement, the press chief reported.
