A Hungarian parliamentary delegation started a two-day visit in Minsk, Belarus on Thursday in order to boost bilateral relations.

Head of the Hungarian delegation Gabor Hars, of the Socialist Party, told the Belarusian news portal Belta that this was the first time after two decades that a parliamentary delegation had visited the country. They are there to return a visit by their Belarusian counterparts paid to Budapest in March last year, Hars said.

"Belarus's interest is to become a full-fledged member of the parliamentary chapter of the EU's Eastern Partnership programme," Speaker of the Council of the Republic of Belarus Boris Batura told the Hungarian delegation. He asked Hungary, as a member of the Visegrad Four grouping, to support this interest. He welcomed Hungary's initiative for a meeting in February of the Visegrad Four members and Belarusian parliamentary representatives, Belta said.

Deputy House Speaker Anatol Rubinau, who is also deputy chairman of the Belarus-Hungary friendship society, said relations between the two countries were "free of serious disputes or differences of opinion in the assessment of current events". He added that there was an open dialogue based on mutual trust.