Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has handed the outgoing Russian Ambassador, Vladimir Nikolaevich Sergeyev, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Middle Cross with the Star.
At the event, Szijjárót said that Hungary aimed to develop mutually beneficial ties with Russia based on mutual respect. Hungary has economic and security interests in such ties, Szijjártó said. “Hungary has gleaned from history that good cooperation between East and West is best for the country. Central Europe usually loses out if there is a conflict between East and West,” he said. The minister noted that European Union-Russia sanctions had dented Hungary’s economy but several “success stories” also emerged in recent years, among them the Paks nuclear power plant project, the International Investment Bank’s new headquarters in Budapest, the delivery of Hungarian-Russian railway carriages to Egypt and Russia’s supplies of the Sputnik V vaccine to Hungary.
The ambassador welcomed the fast development of bilateral relations in recent times as well as Hungary’s approach to the development of Hungary-Russia ties. The state honour is a recognition of Sergeyev’s role in advancing political, economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries. Sergeyev also met Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for a farewell meeting after the ceremony, Bertalan Havasi, the PM’s press chief, said.
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