Hungarian-Romanian relations are currently at their historic best and the two countries are determined to keep them this way, Foreign State Secretary Zsolt Nemeth said after meeting his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu in Budapest on Wednesday.
He said Aurescu had assured him that the statue of King Matthias in Cluj, revamped jointly by the two countries, demonstrated a “success story”. Bucharest is determined to make sure that the current success of Hungarian-Romanian relations continues, he added.
The two sides agreed that the current Hungarian-Romanian relations were better than ever before during the past hundred years. Disputes or differences in opinion about singular issues must be seen in this context, Nemeth said. He noted that the Hungarian-Romanian joint committee on ethnic minorities was just meeting in Budapest.
On Tuesday Nemeth summoned Romanian ambassador Ireny Comaroschi to express concerns about recent developments affecting the Matthias statue, including the placement of a Romanian flag and a controversial plaque in Romanian at the statue, as well as the stopping of Hungary’s ambassador in Bucharest.
The plaque shows a quote by Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga who practically stated that Matthias was not Hungarian but of Romanian ethnicity.
Nemeth said on Wednesday that he and Aurescu shared the view that the plaque was not compatible with the Hungarian-Romanian agreement. The Romanian government will take the necessary measures and the Bucharest Ministry of Culture has already made its position clear, he added.
“We trust that the situation will be resolved and the debates that emerged in bilateral relations can be settled,” Nemeth said.
