Trump, Orbán meeting opens new chapter in bilateral ties, says Hungarian foreign minister

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has opened a new chapter in bilateral relations, and proved that Hungarian-US ties entered a “new dimension”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told Hungarian public media on Tuesday.

The Monday meeting was rich in gestures showing “mutual sympathy” between the leaders, Szijjártó said on Tuesday. The 40-minute closed-door meeting was much longer than the “ten minutes or so” usually allotted to such talks, he said. In a rare gesture, Trump also showed his guest “all the way to the White House exit” afterwards, he said.

Trump meets Orbán at White House – PHOTOS, VIDEO

The talks were held in a “relaxed, sincere” atmosphere, Szijjártó said.

The minister, who attended the closed-door meeting as well as the subsequent plenary talks, said that Trump had been very interested in European affairs. Orbán and Trump discussed issues regarding Ukraine at length and agreed that Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s recently elected new president, may give hope for Ukraine renewing its relations with the European Union and Hungary.

Trump appreciated Hungary’s recent economic achievements, Szijjártó said. Albeit on different scales, the two countries’ economies show similarities in their falling unemployment rates — the numbers of job holders are at a peak in the US and the highest ever since the fall of communism in Hungary, he said. Those numbers demonstrate that Trump and Orban both have successful economic policies, Szijjártó said.

The leaders agreed that that data has “made many jealous,” as it can be gleaned from the attacks of the international press, Szijjártó said. However, they established that both of them have their respective people’s trust, he said.

https://dailynewshungary.com/orban-hungary-us-strategic-alliance-strengthened/

Source: MTI