( IRNA ) - Iran and Hungary in Budapest on Wednesday discussed issues of mutual interest and the most pressing regional and international developments.
Director General of Iran's Foreign Ministry for Central and Northern Europe Affairs Ali Baqeri held talks with Deputy State Secretary for Bilateral Relations of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Laszlo Varkonyi.
During the meeting, Baqeri presented a message from Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki for his Hungarian counterpart.
Pointing to various grounds for cooperation in bilateral, regional and international fields, the two officials stressed the importance of boosting consultations to expand political, economic and cultural cooperation.
Baqeri said Iran and the EU can cooperate in areas including energy, security in the Middle East and the Balkans, democracy and economy.
Varkonyi welcomed the idea of Iran-EU cooperation and said Iran is a vital and influential state in the Middle East region.
He called for Iran's help to facilitate further activities of Hungarian economic companies in Iran's market.
Baqeri also delivered a speech at the International Center for Democratic Transition of Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
He outlined Iran's stance on the ongoing developments in the Middle East, saying presence of foreign forces, violation of human rights and ignoring principles of democracy and regional nations' viewpoints in determining their own fate are the main root causes behind problems in the region.