Hungary opens permanent consulate in Malta

Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela opened a permanent consulate in Valletta today for Hungarian nationals working and living in Malta.

Mr Szijjártó praised the Hungarian-Maltese relations for having “no issues” and “no debates” while describing bilateral relations resting on “reciprocal” and “mutual” respect.

Nevertheless, he reminded not to “become the victims” of the “friendship” of the two countries and called for more emphasis on bilateral relations, as well as promised to work on further “strong alliance” between the two nations.

Some 3,000 Hungarians live in Malta, according to Mr Szijjártó, while last year 27,000 Hungarian tourists visited the island nation due to the great connectivity by air. The Maltese foreign minister also recognised the “eager” tourism activities between the two countries in both directions.

Mr Abela said that sometimes countries might take bilateral relations granted, however, this is not the case with Hungary. The Maltese foreign minister insisted that Malta and Hungary have frequent exchanges of views, and take care of their “excellent relations”.

Furthermore, foreign minister Abela said that the recently-opened office should “seal the friendship” between the two countries, and serve as a reminder to further improve bilateral relations.

The two foreign ministers mentioned that they had inked an agreement prior to the opening ceremony on scientific research and education cooperation. The agreement also includes developing stronger diplomatic ties between the two countries, the foreign ministers said.