Skopje, 26 September 2024 (MIA) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is heading a delegation of the Hungarian Government on an official visit to North Macedonia on Thursday and Friday.  

Hungary currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time. 

On Friday, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski will hold an official tête-à-tête meeting with his Hungarian counterpart in the villa of the Prime Minister in Ohrid, the Government said in a press release. A series of bilateral meetings between the Macedonian ministers and their Hungarian counterparts are also expected to be held.

The two governments will hold a joint session in the Inex Olgica hotel in Ohrid on Friday, followed by a press conference by the two prime ministers.

Mickoski and Orban will also lay flowers at the monument of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Ohrid on the sidelines of the visit.

Intensive security measures and temporary traffic rules are in place in Ohrid ahead of the visit. 

During the NATO summit in Washington in early July, Mickoski and Orbán agreed on a loan from Hungary in the amount of EUR 500 million. The Parliament on September 17 adopted in a fast-track procedure the law on the loan from the Hungarian government. 

The loan from the Export-Import Bank Hungary will be withdrawn in a single tranche, with a 15-year repayment period and a three-year grace period, at a fixed interest rate of 3.25 percent. It will be repaid in 24 semi-annual instalments, due on February 15 and August 15 of each year.

During the discussion in the Parliament, the opposition accused at the time that the loan agreement was made behind closed doors, with utterly suspicious intentions, leading to enormous political and economic consequences and enormous increase of the public debt.

Orbán previously paid an official visit to the country in 2013, when he received the “September 8” Order for outstanding merit for the development and strengthening of friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries. The order was presented by then-President Gjorgje Ivanov, and Orbán also held meetings with the Prime Minister at the time, Nikola Gruevski. 

Photo: MIA archive