Hungarian EU presidency working to develop EU-Chile economic ties

Hungary’s EU presidency is striving to develop economic and trade cooperation between the European Union and Chile, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Santiago de Chile on Monday.

The European Union is becoming less competitive, Szijjártó said before meeting Chilean counterpart Alberto van Klaveren Stork, listing “flawed” policies in connection with the war in Ukraine which, he insisted, had led to higher energy prices and the “politicising of economic and commercial relations in Brussels”.

EU’s external economic and trade relations “are narrowing continually”, he added.

He said Hungary’s EU presidency is focusing on shaping the bloc’s external economic and trade relations. Chile’s economy is deeply integrated into world trade, enjoying free trade agreements with 30 states.

“Brussels bureaucrats would do well to enroll on a course in Santiago on how to conclude free trade agreements effectively,” he said.