|  Foreign Ministry State Secretary László Várkonyi paid a visit to Morocco for expert talks. On October 8, Mr Várkonyi held talks with Foreign Ministry State Secretary Latifa Akarbach on Hungarian-Moroccan political and economic relations: besides the development of our bilateral relations, they agreed to mutually support each other’s nominees in international organisations.
The State Secretary personally handed over a letter of invitation by Foreign Minister Péter Balázs to Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri.  Mr Várkonyi paid a courtesy call on Habib Ben Yahia, Secretary-General of the Maghreb Arab Union, and André Azoulay, the Chief Advisor of the King, who is also Chairman of the “Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures”.
In view of close working relations which have developed over the past few years between the two countries’ legislatures, Mr Várkonyi visited the Moroccan parliament and he was received by the speakers of both houses. He held talks with the Chairman of the Morocco-Hungary Friendship Society, too. Hungary nurtures traditionally good political relations with Morocco and our cultural and scientific relations have flourished over the past few years; leaders of both countries have expressed their commitment to better extend co-operation on the economy, too. In the recent period there have been several stimulative measures, though much has yet to be done to advance the creation of direct relations in the private sector. The important message of the Rabat visit was Hungary’s commitment to the European Union’s Southern Neighbourhood Policy and the success of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation; we participate actively in promoting cultural dialogue and we can be partners of Morocco in several areas. Mr Várkonyi briefed his hosts on Hungary’s preparations and plans for its 2011 EU presidency, and noted that we count on Moroccan co-operation in the course of our presidency. (October 8, 2008) |