Romanian media: Bucharest counts on Hungary's support

Media in Romania has widely covered the meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Orbán Viktor a román miniszterelnökkel tárgyalt Fotó: Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Benko Vivien Cher

The informal meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in Bucharest on Wednesday received wide coverage in Romanian media. On Antena 3 news television, political analyst Bogdan Chirieac said it was a brave move by the head of the Bucharest cabinet to initiate talks.

Hungary will hold the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of next year. There is little chance of Romania joining the Schengen area in the next six months, despite the best efforts made by the current Spanish presidency to this end,

the expert said, suggesting that the issue of further enlargement could be on the agenda during Hungary's EU presidency.

It is unnatural that there has been no such meeting for thirteen years, political scientist Gergely Illyes told the Transylvanian Maszol portal. Consultations should be held much more frequently also at prime ministerial level, as Hungary and Romania are neighbouring countries and strategic partners, the expert at the Research Institute for Hungarian Communities Abroad pointed out.

Let's not forget that Romania has recently had a new prime minister, or put it differently, Marcel Ciolacu could have opened a new page in bilateral relations. The meeting is also noteworthy because Viktor Orban's speeches delivered at the Balvanyos Summer Free University and Studnet Camp in Baile Tusnad usually cause some reverberations in Romanian public life and the media,

the analyst emphasized. In his view, there was no need to talk the Hungarian side into accepting such an invitation to Bucharest, he said, adding that in recent years, it was the Romanian side that showed some reserve.

Overall, Romanian media reported objectively on Wednesday's talks between Viktor Orban and Marcel Ciolacu in Bucharest. Pro-government press primarily focused on  joint infrastructure projects planned in the future. Libertatea quotes Viktor Orban's post shared on Facebook after the Hungarian-Romanian prime ministerial meeting: "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". The portal gives a factual account of the meeting between the two prime ministers.

The Romanian daily Adevarul, which is close to the ruling National Liberal Party, and Stiripesurse.ro, which is close to the ruling Social Democrats, highlight in their headlines the joint development projects in the field of infrastructure, such as the Bucharest-Budapest high-speed railway project, which were discussed during the talks between Viktor Orban and Marcel Ciolacu. They also stressed that Hungary is a committed supporter of Romania's Schengen membership.

Cover photo: Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu (l)  meets his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban in Bucharest on 19 July 2023. (Photo: MTI/PM's Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)