The two major moments of Klaus Iohannis's visit to Budapest - his reception with a military salute and then a joint press conference held with Hungarian President Katalin Novak - were broadcast live by Bucharest's public news channel.
The media coverage was extensive, pointing out that the last time a Romanian head of state, Traian Basescu, visited Hungary was 14 years ago.
Several news portals and television reports lamented the absence of President Iohannis's meeting with Hungarian PM Orban. According to some reports, the Hungarian prime minister "shied away" from talks with the Romanian president. Many reports, including some from those providing on-site coverage, simply "forgot" that PM Orban had been on an official visit to Georgia since Tuesday. Some news reports even suggested that Hungary's prime minister had organized a trip to Georgia precisely to avoid a meeting with President Iohannis.
President Novak's statement, that support for the Hungarian minority contributes to Romania's development and that it is therefore in our mutual interest to reduce tensions rather than foment them, appeared in newspaper headlines. Naturally, Romania's Schengen membership and its prospects were also emphasized by the media coverage. The headlines also included a response from President Iohannis to a journalist's question, in which he noted that
Hungary may succeed in persuading its western neighbor - Austria, which is blocking the Schengen enlargement - to change its position.
The extensive coverage has also highlighted the Romanian head of state's remark that significant natural gas resources had recently been discovered along Romania's Black Sea coast, and that they hoped that "this resource could be exploited in the near future, making Romania also a relevant supplier for Hungary".
Cover photo: Hungarian President Katalin Novak receives Klaus Iohannis, Romania's head of state (Photo: Arpad Kurucz)
