German President Horst Koehler and his visiting Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Solyom said on Friday that European Union members should continue to promote the bloc's political integration despite the crisis over an EU constitution.

After talks with Koehler, Solyom said EU nations must ponder again what is the foundation and the goal of the 25-nation bloc, whose image was hurt last year when Dutch and French voters rejected a draft European constitution.

Koehler agreed, and said the EU's political integration should be continued, according to local media reports.

The two leaders also noted the smooth development of Germany-Hungary relations and agreed that cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries should be further expanded.

According to the local media, the presidents of Germany, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Austria, Portugal and Hungary will meet in Dresden in Germany on Sunday to discuss the future of Europe.

Source: Xinhua