All agreements in place for post-Brexit cooperation with UK

Hungary and Britain have concluded all agreements that specify the conditions of post-Brexit cooperation, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade said in London on Friday.

After attending official talks between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his British counterpart Boris Johnson, Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary strives for the closest possible bilateral cooperation with Britain. The minister identified two strategic areas, namely the

energy and defence industries,

which he said would see even more intensive and promising cooperation in the period to come.

• More than 100,000 Hungarians live in the United Kingdom
• Over 140,000 Hungarians seeking to stay in Britain

Szijjártó noted that Shell was the first non-Russian energy company with whom Hungary had signed a long-term gas purchase agreement. He added that Hungary’s government seeks to expand cooperation with, and import more gas from, Shell. “Now we have a six-year contract on the purchase of 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas,” he said.

Defence industry cooperation focuses on

enhanced security as both countries are members of the same defence alliance,

Szijjártó said. He said that Hungary’s defence industry had launched ambitious development projects, and that British companies may play a substantial role in joint R+D and manufacturing.

Szijjártó said that the

900 British companies present in Hungary employ over 50,000 workers.

During the coronavirus pandemic the Hungarian government granted support to six of them to prevent mass layoffs, he said.

Cooperation between central Europe and Britain was significant and, from the political point of view, especially important within the European Union, and the situation has not changed since Britain’s departure either, Szijjártó said.

Source: MTI