- Published: 28.11.2017.
PM Plenkovic: There is a clear political will of Croatia and Hungary to resolve INA and MOL issues
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban assessed the overall relations between the two countries to good relations and friendly relations and expressed their willingness and readiness to resolve the open issues of INA and MOL.
PM Plenkovic met with Orban during a visit to Hungary where he attended a summit of prime ministers from central and eastern European countries and China on Monday.Before meeting with his Hungarian counterpart, PM Plenkovic said that Croatia continued to believe that it should either buy back MOL's stake in INA or find a strategic partner to buy it.
"Hungary is ready to make a fair deal on the buyout of MOL's shares and help close this issue that unfortunately has been burdening relations between the two countries for a number of reasons, and we are agreed on that," PM Plenkovic said.
PM Plenkovic, who before the talks with Orban said that it was "unacceptable" that EU countries were blocking one another and slowing down processes, expressed his deep confidence that Hungary would support Croatia in joining the OECD.
"I am confident that Hungary will support Croatia in that process and it is important that we continue our dialogue with the OECD," said PM Plenkovic, noting that he would meet with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria in Paris next month.
The Croatian PM said that there was no official blockade of any kind because no negotiations were currently under way.
The two prime ministers said that they discussed trade, tourism, transport infrastructure, energy and the minorities.
"Hungary is our fifth biggest trade partner, our trade has increased, investments in the past 25 years exceed two billion euros. It is also important that more than 500,000 Hungarian tourists visited Croatia this year," said PM Plenkovic.
Text: Hina