Hungary is open to negotiations with Serbia on traveling

Published on 22. March 2021., News

If the EU decides to travel to member countries only with a certificate of vaccination with vaccines approved in the Union, Hungary is open to negotiations with Serbia on how to allow citizens to travel between the two countries, the country’s foreign minister, Peter Sijarto, said today.
Sijarto said that at a joint press conference with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic in Belgrade, answering a question regarding the Covid passport and the announcement from Brussels that you may only be able to travel if you are vaccinated with vaccines approved in the EU.
The head of Hungarian diplomacy points out that Budapest is ready to sign bilateral agreements regarding the acceptance of Covid passports.
“If there are opportunities in relation to Serbia, we are open and open to negotiations with Serbia on how we will enable citizens to travel between the two countries,” Sijarto said, reports Tanjug.
He points out that Serbia is one of the most successful countries when it comes to vaccination, firstly in terms of procurement, and secondly in terms of the number of vaccinated.
“That means that you are more protected than any other EU country, so we are ready for bilateral agreements on that issue if they are more successful,” Sijarto said.
Covid passports cannot be discriminatory
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Hungary, Peter Sijarto, pointed out today in Belgrade that Covid passports cannot be discriminatory and that Hungary does not accept the recognition of only a vaccine approved by the European competent institution.
Sijarto said that answering the question of the journalists, at the joint press conference with the head of Serbian diplomacy, Nikola Selakovic, about the position of Hungary on the issue of Covid passports and approval of vaccines.
The head of the Hungarian diplomacy also says that the Covid passport must respect the regulations of the European Union, but that they enable two ways of approving the vaccine.
“One is the European Pharmacological Institute, and the other way is that in a situation of danger, the national competent authorities decide which vaccine to accept. We do not accept that only the vaccine approved by the European competent institution is accepted in relation to the Covid passport, but in the future you should also accept vaccines that are approved at the national level,” Sijarto said, reports Tanjug.
Asked what the situation is in Hungary when it comes to the AstraZeneca vaccine and whether they are planning a suspension, Sijarto said that he is constantly monitoring and that he will act in accordance with what their experts consider appropriate.
“In Hungary, it is not a political question whether one vaccine can be used or not, but it is the task of experts, and as experts decide, we will act accordingly,” Sijarto concluded, Politika reports.