Fico: I'm Ready for Intensive Cooperation with New Hungarian Prime Minister

Hanoi/Bratislava, 13 April (TASR) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Monday stated on a social network that he is ready for intensive cooperation with the new Hungarian prime minister, while expressing interest in maintaining friendly relations with Budapest. "It is with full respect that I take note of the decision of the people of Hungary in yesterday's general election, and I am ready for intensive cooperation with the new Hungarian prime minister, whom I congratulate on his election result," stated Fico, adding that the goals of the Slovak government remain unchanged. "We're interested in friendly and mutually beneficial relations with Hungary, as well as in the above-standard status of ethnic minorities living in our countries," stated Fico. He also noted that Slovakia wishes to revive the Visegrad Four group (V4: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) and maintain a shared approach with Hungary in protecting energy interests. "I believe there's a continued and eminent interest on the part of Slovakia and Hungary, as well as all of Central Europe, in resuming the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline," added Fico. In a separate post, Fico thanked outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for their cooperation. "In an atmosphere of mutual respect, we invested a huge amount of energy into high-quality Slovak-Hungarian relations, which have never been at such a high level as during this period. His drive to protect sovereignty and national interests has always been, and will always be, a great example to me," added Fico, who is currently on an official visit to Vietnam. Based on the preliminary results of Sunday's general election in Hungary, with some 99 percent of votes counted, opposition leader Peter Magyar's TISZA party is in a dominant position, with incumbent Prime Minister and Fidesz party leader Viktor Orban describing the result as "painful". jrg