Berlin - Kinga Goncz, foreign minister of Hungary which was rescued last month by international lenders from financial collapse, called in Berlin Friday for better European Union coordination in crises.

He spoke after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Both said they favoured joint EU strategies to deal with financial and economic crises.

"I'm firmly convinced this will work," said Steinmeier.

"Europe can only be strong if we work together and coordinate our actions with one another," said Goncz.

The ministers said Hungary and Germany would be holding joint celebrations next year on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain, the border that used to divide communist parts of Europe from the West. (dpa)