PM Plenkovic met PM Orban

The prime ministers of Croatia and Hungary, Andrej Plenkovic and Viktor Orban respectively, said after their meeting in Zagreb on Monday that the only issue burdening relations between the two countries was the management of the Croatian INA oil company, in which Hungary's MOL is a part owner, adding that should MOL decide to sell its share to Croatia, the key point to agree on would be the price.

The two prime ministers met ahead of a two-day summit of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in Zagreb and discussed several issues, underscoring that this was Orban's first visit to Zagreb in seven years and an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations strained by disagreements over the management of Croatia's largest oil company.

"There is good will on behalf of Hungary and on behalf of Croatia for that problem to be resolved. What we would like is that it doesn't burden relations in other areas," Plenkovic said. Asked whether Croatia was still prepared to buy out MOL's stake in INA, Plenkovic recalled that on the Croatian side was the government and on the Hungarian side a private company.

"The Croatian government's stance has not changed and in the end the key is to come to an agreement on the price," Plenkovic said.

Orban underscored that disagreements over an economic issue, which he compared to "a thorn in one's heel", could not be more important than centuries of common history between two neighbouring nations.

"I really don't know of any economic problem that could be more important or difficult than 800 years of common history," Orban said.

Text: Hina



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