JERUSALEM, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday his country will open a trade office in Jerusalem with "diplomatic status," announcing the controversial move during a visit to Israel.

Orban made the announcement in Jerusalem after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I just informed the prime minister that the Hungarian government decided to open a trade representation here with diplomatic status," Orban said in public remarks after the meeting.

He said that the office means Hungary "will have an official presence in Jerusalem" and he hopes the move would "improve even more the relationship between the Israeli people and Hungary."

The Israeli prime minister's office issued a statement saying Netanyahu "congratulated him on his decision to expand the Hungarian embassy in Israel and open a trade representation in Jerusalem with diplomatic status."

Netanyahu said the opening of the office would be an "important" step. "It's a sign of our friendship and it's also a place that can welcome you to Jerusalem next time you come here," he told Orban.

Netanyahu commended Hungary for siding with Israel in the United Nations Human Rights Council and the European Union, two bodies critical of the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"You stand up for Israel and you stand up for the truth and I want to thank you for it," he said, adding that "it is a very important alliance."

The two right-wing leaders' meeting focused on cooperation in security and sharing intelligence against "militant Islam and radical forces," according to the Israeli prime minister's office.

Orban said his government will act to prevent European Union financing non-governmental organizations "that are interfering in political issues and being anti-Israel."

The two talked also about economic and technological cooperation, especially in the field of the innovative car industry.

Orban noted that currently, some 210 Israeli companies are active in Hungary, providing jobs for 5,500 Hungarians. "Your presence in Hungary is very important because we hope that you could be even stronger there," he said.

The meeting was one of a series of personal meetings Netanyahu hosted in Jerusalem on Tuesday with the prime ministers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, after a European summit in Jerusalem had been canceled a day before amidst a rift between Israel and Poland.

Netanyahu's nationalistic government considers as a very important opening of official international offices in Jerusalem.

In mid-October 2018, the United States opened a new embassy in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged the city as Israel's capital. The move sparked a wave of violence between Israel and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Later, Guatemala opened an embassy in Jerusalem and Brazil's newly-elected President Jair Bolsonaro had confirmed in January that Brazil will relocate its embassy too, without providing a specific date.

The moves were controversial because Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, and later annexed it, claiming it part of its "indivisible capital." The Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and most of the international community view East Jerusalem as an occupied Palestinian territory. Enditem

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