“The growth trajectory of the Hungarian economy will also be fundamentally affected by what concrete agreement is reached between the British Government and the European Union on the United Kingdom’s exit of the EU”, Péter Szijjártó said in London.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade held talks with British Finance Minister Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and with David Davis, head of the new ministry created to manage the exit process.
Speaking to Hungarian reporters with relation to his negotiations, Mr. Szijjártó said: “Hungary has a vested interest in the conclusion of an exit agreement between London and the EU that guarantees that trade, investment and economic relations between the European Union and Great Britain will remain free and unhindered”.
“It must be made clear that the appearance of any kind of restriction or impeding factor in EU-UK relations would also cause extreme damage to the Hungarian economy”, he added.
“There are 771 British enterprises operating in Hungary, who employ some 49 thousand people. These enterprises are continuously reinvesting in Hungary and our goal is for this process to continue and accelerate”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
“Hungary and ten large British corporations are establishing the British-Hungarian Business Council, whose founders include British companies that are already present in Hungary with major investments and provide jobs for large numbers of people, such as Tesco, British Telecom, BP, GlaxoSmithKline and Provident”, the Minister announced.
The founding of the Business Council represents a guarantee for Hungary that Great Britain’s exiting of the European Union will not impede continued British investment”, added Mr. Szijjártó, who on Wednesday afternoon duly signed the memorandum on the establishment of the Council at the Hungarian Embassy in London in the presence of the directors of several of the large British corporations involved.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, the fact that certain European institutions are thinking along the lines of trying to come to an agreement with Great Britain that is similar to the treaties concluded with Norway or Switzerland is a mistake. “According to Hungary’s standpoint, we need a unique and totally new agreement that is in no way based on existing treaties in view of the fact that from an economic, investment and trade cooperation perspective the importance of Great Britain cannot be compared to that of any other country with which the EU maintains close relations”, he emphasised.
Hungary is firmly against the behaviour demonstrated by certain EU institutions that seems to be aimed at “politically punishing” London because of the exit decision. “There is no place for resentment here; it is in the interests of Europe, and within it Hungary, to maintain the closest and freest possible economic cooperation between Great Britain and the European Union”, the Foreign Minister said.
Mr. Szijjártó also stressed that he had asked his ministerial negotiating partners for their support in protecting the rights and interests of Hungarians working in the UK. “The good news is that I did not encounter any kind of fundamental refusal, it is however clear that the free movement of people was one of the greatest motivating factors in the British referendum”, he told reporters.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister highlighted the fact that there is fundamental agreement between the British and Hungarian Governments with regard to the issue of migration, including the protection of the EU’s external borders and the fact that we must handle the causes of migration. “The wave of migration cannot be handled unless we succeed in coming to an agreement with countries that are the source of migration and with transit countries”, he added.