Dr István Mikola, State Secretary for Security Policy and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade had talks in Ottawa on 22 March where he met, among others, with Timothy Sargent, Deputy Minister for International Trade, and Alexandra Bugailiskis, Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for our region.
A general review of international trade agreements constituted a central element of the talks. Mr Mikola said that Hungary, as a country with an open economy, has a vested interest in making the most of the benefits arising from multilateral trade agreements, the same as Canada. In the context of the ratification of CETA, he informed his negotiating partners that it may be approved by Hungary subject to the schedule of Parliament, once Canada has already ratified the document. The Canadian parties said that the ratification procedure may be closed in the Senate by the end of April as expected.