Government: Hungary-Germany ties are a success story

The relationship between Hungary and Germany is a “success story” and is useful for the entire world, Technology and Industry Minister László Palkovics said after talks with German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck in Berlin on Friday.

Speaking to public media, Palkovics said that because a close relationship “always has issues that need to be cleared up”, he and Habeck had “clarified” some “misunderstandings” ahead of Monday’s meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The two countries have no disagreements when it comes to the economy, Palkovics said. The minister said a survey by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) that found that 88 percent of German companies doing business in Hungary would repeat their past investments in the country was also a sign of the success of bilateral economic cooperation.

Palkovics said he and Habeck had discussed energy as another area for cooperation, noting that Hungary needed to have a stable energy supply in order for German companies to be successful there.

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“Recent developments have also led us to rethink Hungary’s energy situation, including the aim to become independent and environmentally friendly solutions that will characterise the coming period,” he said.

Palkovics said the talks also covered plans to build a hydrogen economy and the issue of new vehicle propulsion technologies, on which he said Hungary and Germany were in agreement that political decisions needed to adhere to the principle of “technological neutrality”.