Foreign minister: UK PM working to fulfill will of British people

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s work to fulfill the people’s will as expressed in a referendum should command respect rather than attacks, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in London, where he was scheduled to meet Dominic Raab, the foreign minister, and Steve Barclay, the minister overseeing Brexit, for bilateral talks.

Speaking to Hungarian public media, Szijjártó called the “attacks” levelled at Johnson by the international media “unjust“.

Hungary’s interest is to eliminate all factors that might stand in the way of further cooperation, he said.

“We have seen the challenges that the European media’s pressure on the US president have created in European-US relations,” he said, adding: “It would be good to avoid that this time.”

Referring to British press speculation that Johnson had asked certain EU countries, including Hungary, to veto any extension to the Brexit deadline, Szijjártó said: “We have read the rumours about this but the Hungarian government has not been approached with such a request.”

Szijjártó said he had met more than thirty company heads during his visit to London, and, based on the talks held, “we can safely say that British investors are very satisfied with the investment environment in Hungary”. They appreciated, he added, one of the lowest corporate taxes in Europe and policies that cut red tape and promote investment.

Concerning the rights of Hungarians living in the UK, Szijjártó said they must not be infringed after Brexit. Hungary’s aim is to maintain an earlier agreement which states that, regardless of the form of Brexit, citizens’ rights must be mutually guaranteed regardless of whether they live in the EU or in the UK.