Upon the invitation of the Croatian President, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, János Áder Hungarian president attended the Dubrovnik Forum in Croatia, on the 25th of August 2016. At the occasion of the Forum representatives of twelve EU Member States endorsed a joint statement on the so-called “Three Seas Initiative” which aims at deepening political, economic, security and infrastructural cooperation among the countries of the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea region. The Hungarian President expressed his support for the Croatian President’s initiative, highlighting that Hungary, for its part, already fulfilled its commitments to the development of transport and energy infrastructure networks. At the same time, the Hungarian President pointed out that persisting shortcomings as regards energy-links and development needed in Croatia, are detrimental to the realization of shared objectives. In his intervention János Áder put special emphasis on the realization of climate protection objectives and the importance of increasing shift towards renewable energy resources.
On the second day of the Dubrovnik Forum, Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade addressed the panel of foreign ministers on the issue of actual geopolitical challenges. Péter Szijjártó stressed: since the Second World War Europe has not faced with such a complex situation which occurred by the crisis in Ukraine, the phenomenon of terrorism in Europe and the United Kingdom’s declared withdrawal from the European Union. One of the most pressing problems he mentioned was the migration crisis. For an effective action, he emphasized focusing on the protection of external borders instead of pursuing the proposals made by EU institutions. Péter Szijjártó also argued for the speeding up of the Union’s enlargement process. According to the minister a strong Europe needs strong Member States with democratically elected leaders providing legitimate guidance.