OREANDA-NEWS  Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Miksert met in Budapest to discuss NATO and defence issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade informed Hungarian news agency MTI on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the standpoints of Hungary and Estonia, which is the current President of the Council of the European Union, in the debate on the future of the EU correspond on several points. Both countries regard as important the reinforcement of the Schengen Area, the protection of EU borders and tighter cooperation between the EU and NATO.

The two countries also agree that in the interests of restoring the competitiveness of the European Union, taxation and social policy issues must remain within the scope of competence of member states, in addition to which the rate of digital development must be accelerated, the statement reads.

It was also mentioned at the meeting that Hungary is contributing to Baltic security. 130 Hungarian military personnel are currently stationed in Estonia within the framework of Visegrád Group cooperation, and in 2019 Hungarian fighter aircraft will again be involved in the protection of Baltic airspace, the Ministry said. In addition, Hungary is supporting Estonia’s bid for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in 2021-2021, the statement reads.