Germany and Hungary are to strengthen cooperation in the energy, culture and defence sectors, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday at a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Anita Orbán in Budapest.
"Thirty-seven years ago, Hungary opened a border for Germans who wanted to flee East Germany, opening a path to freedom. We are eternally grateful to and connected with Hungary for that," Wadephul said on Monday.
"Today we are taking the opportunity to throw the doors between our two countries wide open again," he said. He is the first German foreign minister to visit Hungary in almost seven years and is accompanied by a business delegation.
Wadephul and Orbán announced a meeting of the German-Hungarian Forum at foreign minister level in Berlin later this year to further boost cooperation. The most recent meeting of the forum at this level took place in 2019, with a further virtual session held a year later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hungary's new government, led by conservative Prime Minister Péter Magyar, ousted right-wing populist Viktor Orbán in April elections, ending his 16-year tenure in power.
Budapest's relations with Berlin cooled after Orbán pursued a Moscow-friendly course and obstructed EU sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Foreign minister Orbán, who is unrelated to the former prime minister, said there had been a fundamental change. "There is dialogue again, there are talks again," she said. The Magyar government is charting a new and significantly more critical course toward Russia.
According to Wadephul, the two sides are to examine the possibility of declaring 2028 a German-Hungarian Cultural Year to strengthen cultural and social exchange.
Orbán said that both countries wanted to expand cooperation beyond the automotive industry into electronics and the defence sector.
The 35th anniversary of the signing of the German-Hungarian Friendship Treaty will be commemorated in February next year.
Orbán announced that Magyar will visit Berlin on November 9 and 10 to hold talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz. In Budapest, Wadephul also met with President András Baka and Economy Minister István Kapitány.
Ahead of the visit, Wadephul highlighted Hungary's expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats last week as a clear signal to Moscow.
He said Budapest's solidarity, demonstrated by approving EU sanctions on Russia, had sent Moscow a clear message that "we are defending the peace order in Europe against Russia's aggression."