Romania's full accession to the Schengen Area will bring a GDP growth of 2 percent yearly and this will certainly be seen in Hungary's economy, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Friday, adding that new opportunities must be found to increase economic exchanges and mutual investments.

Prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, on a visit to Romania, had a meeting at the Victoria Palace of Government, on Friday afternoon.

"Almost a month ago, we lived a historic moment together in Budapest with the agreement on Romania's full accession to the Schengen Area. Today we are together again in Bucharest to celebrate this achievement and the friendship between our countries. Once again, I would like to thank prime minister Orban for his strong and decisive support in terms of achieving the Schengen objective. This is an excellent result which would not have been possible without the direct involvement of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The lifting of land border controls from 1 January 2025 was an objective of fundamental importance for Romania, for Romanians and for the Romanian economy. If accession to Schengen will bring Romania a GDP growth of 2 percent per year, this will certainly be seen in Hungary's economy, the gateway through which Romanian products reach European markets," said Marcel Ciolacu in the context of joint press statements.

The talks were aimed at promoting, as best as possible, the economic interests of the two countries in the region.

"We have new opportunities in front of us. We just need to work smart. That is why I discussed with prime minister Orban today about ways we can better promote our economic interests in the region. As we have discussed with the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, our main objective is to materialize this relationship into major projects with direct effects on our citizens. Hungary is one of Romania's most important trade partners, but we need to find new opportunities to increase economic exchanges and mutual investments," said Marcel Ciolacu.

He emphasized that there is also a need for joint action at EU level to increase the competitiveness of the two countries' economies.

"In this regard, I spoke with prime minister Orban about how we can act jointly at EU level to increase the competitiveness of our economies, included. Specifically, we have also discussed today joint infrastructure and interconnection projects, which in turn support economic development," Ciolacu added.

According to him, the latest developments in the security situation in the region were also analyzed.

"We have also tackled the topic of the future of transatlantic relations in a global context marked by unprecedented challenges, not only from a security point of view, but also from an economic, social and political one," Marcel Ciolacu mentioned.

He also emphasized that, in the context of the political situation in Romania, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) brings "balance".

"I would also like to tell you, Mr. Orban, that in the political turmoil in Bucharest these days, we have the benefit of balance, and this is represented by UDMR. We have cooperated and I am sure that we will continue to cooperate extremely well with the representatives of UDMR, whom I personally consider to be fair and professional partners in the government act," the Romanian prime minister told his Hungarian counterpart. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)