Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy appreciated the EU-Russia summit held in St. Petersburg on Saturday as the first occasion to which the future member states of the European Union were also invited. 

Interviewed by MTI, the premier said the atmosphere of the summit suggested that the EU would be prepared to establish good-neighbourly relations and partnership with Russia. The key issue on the agenda was the forthcoming enlargement of the union, he said. 

The international tensions generated during the Iraq crisis seem to be easing. It has become a prevalent opinion that the countries represented in the summit should deal with the future, rather than the past, and offer assistance and viable models to the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq to promote their progress towards democracy, he said. 

Besides Russian President Vladimir Putin, Medgyessy held separate talks with several senior politicians invited to the 300th anniversary of the city. Chinese Presient Hu Jintao confirmed Medgyessy's invitation to Peking which the prime minister plans to meet later this year. 

Medgyessy held talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as well as the premiers of Luxembourg, Belgium and The Netherlands. At the EU Convention, Hungary and the three Benelux states have assumed identical positions on enforcing the interests of small states in the future Constitution of the European Union. Medgyessy said the dividing line between old and new members seems to be disappearing within the EU. 

Medgyessy flew to St. Petersburg on board the same plane as Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. Holding a three-hour consultation, the two politicians raised the idea that the Hungarian minister for the environment and the Austrian minister of energy affairs should consult about the affair of the Paks nuclear power plant. 

Concerning Hungarian-Russian relations, Medgyessy said the Russian side inquired about the construction of a new underground line in Budapest. Hungary will call an international tender for the project and select the best bidder, he said.