Hungary's Cabinet plans to close a dozen of its diplomatic missions abroad to save $10 million per year, an official said.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said the government will close the embassies in Chile, Luxembourg, Malaysia and Venezuela, and consulates in Dusseldorf, Germany; Lyon, France; Krakow, Poland, and Chicago, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Sydney, the Hungarian news agency MTI said Wednesday.

Addressing a parliamentary committee in Budapest Tuesday, Balazs said Hungary will move its UNESCO mission to the embassy in Paris, and put World Trade Organization and U.N. missions on the same site in Geneva, Switzerland. It also plans to house its Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and U.N. missions in one building in Vienna.

Balazs said the move will abolish 70 diplomatic positions in foreign countries but those affected will be assigned to new posts within the Foreign Ministry in Hungary.

Balazs said the money expected from the sale of buildings in foreign countries where the embassies and consulates were to be closed will be allocated to the state budget.

The Foreign Ministry's share in the 2009 budget was reduced to $216 million from the originally planned $240 million.