Hungary’s Defence Minister: "Georgia is an important partner"

Georgia has made "serious sacrifices” on its path to Euro-Atlantic integration and we highly appreciate these achievements, says Hungary’s Defence Minister.

The Hungarian official met Georgia’s Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli, who is on an official visit in Hungary. Already Khidasheli has met several high officials including her Hungarian counterpart Istvan Simicsko and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

"Hungary has from the very beginning supported in a consistent manner the Euro-Atlantic efforts of Georgia and of course we fully support the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia,” Simicsko said following his meeting with Khidasheli.

#Hungary has been a long-time friend & partner to #Georgiahttps://t.co/SJRpGob5Gw Meeting w/ MoD István #Simicskópic.twitter.com/Z6bxrCcRVb

— Tina Khidasheli (@tinakhidasheli) May 6, 2016

The two Defence Ministers spoke for Hungarian media, where they stressed Georgia’s recent achievements in various fields.

"An important partner of ours has come today,” Simicsko said, standing beside the Georgian Minister.

"During the discussions I expressed my deep appreciation concerning the military, political and economical achievements of the country.”

The Hungarian official expressed his country’s openness for "widest possible defence and military cooperation” with Georgia.

Khidasheli said: "Hungary has been a long-time friend and partner to Georgia through all difficult times of the past 25 years of our independence including our escape from the Soviet bloc.”

She added this partnership made it possible for Georgia to feel more secure and be able to play a significant role in securing global peace together with its partners in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places.

"We have Georgian officers at this very moment securing peace and helping security in the Central African Republic, in Mali, in Ukraine, in Afghanistan,” she said.

"We have Hungarian officers in Georgia under the European Union Monitoring Mission securing peace and helping security to be built in my country.”

"This is the kind of cooperation we value most,” she added.