President Pirc Musar paying first official visit to Hungary

Today, Pirc Musar is already visiting the Porabje region to meet members of the Slovenian minority in Hungary. The Slovenian community in Hungary is estimated at some 5,000 people, most of whom live in this border region. Members of the Hungarian minority in Slovenia meanwhile mostly live in the Lendava, Dobrovnik, Šalovci, Moravske Toplice and Hodoš areas.

As part of preparations for the official visit, the president received Ferenc Horvath, the representative of the Hungarian minority in Slovenia's parliament, and Dušan Orban, the president of the Lendava-based Pomurje Hungarian Self-Governing Community (PMSNS), last week.

Along with matters concerning the respective minorities, Pirc Musar and her host Novak will also discuss cross-border cooperation projects and efforts to improve connectivity between the two countries. Pirc Musar's office said major steps forward had been made in recent years when it came to joint infrastructure project.

The Cirkovce-Pince high-voltage power line was completed last year, connecting Slovenia's grid to Hungary's. It is also in the interests of Ljubljana and Budapest to build a gas pipeline link, which would enable Hungary to free itself from dependence on Russian gas in the medium term and find an independent source flowing via Italy.

Economic cooperation between the two countries has been very good. Hungary was Slovenia's seventh largest foreign trade partner last year, with the value of trade exceeding EUR 3.3 billion, according to data from the online portal Izvozno okno (Export Window). In 2022, Slovenia exported EUR 1.3 billion worth of goods to Hungary, while imports amounted to almost EUR 2 billion.

The global issues to be broached in the talks include environmental protection and climate change impact, water diplomacy and the importance of a sound management of water as a scarce natural resource. Water diplomacy and water management are also at the forefront of Slovenia's campaign to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2024 and 2025.

The presidents are moreover expected to exchange views on the situation in the Western Balkans. The two countries, which share a geographical proximity to the region and therefore a better understanding of it, support the EU membership path for the countries in region - according to the president of the Hungarian parliament, this is also important in the context of the Central European area, of which both Slovenia and Hungary are a part.

Views will also be exchanged on the war in Ukraine. Both countries want the conflict to end as soon as possible. Hungary is one of the few EU countries to publicly oppose tough sanctions against Russia, and is the only country besides Turkey that has not yet ratified Sweden's entry into NATO.

During the visit, a cooperation agreement between the Slovenian National and University Library and the Hungarian National Library Szechenyi will be signed in the presence of the two presidents. The pair will also attend the inauguration of an exhibition of translations of Slovenian literary works into Hungarian and visit a centre for single-parent families.

Meanwhile, Pirc Musar will be received separately in the Hungarian capital by the President of the Hungarian Parliament Köver, and Prime Minister Orban. She already met Köver in March, when he paid an official visit to Slovenia. They discussed neighbourly relations, the rights of minorities and the emigration of young people seeking opportunities for a better life abroad.

Contacts between the highest officials of Slovenia and Hungary are frequent. Before Köver's visit, Defence Minister Marjan Šarec paid a two-day working visit to Hungary in February, and last December, prime ministers Robert Golob and Viktor Orban met at the official launch of the Cirkovce-Pince power line.

The Hungarian President paid her first official visit to Slovenia last July, when she was hosted by Pirc Musar's predecessor Borut Pahor.