Hungarian foreign minister: EU must strike fair deal with UK

Budapest (MTI) – The European Union should strike a fair and honest deal with Britain because without one the economy will lose out, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Szijjártó told a news conference that the EU should not negotiate from a position of resentment, since this would not lead to a good outcome.

Talks should aim towards as comprehensive and broad free-trade deal as possible which leads to the closest possible economic, trading and investment cooperation, the minister said, adding that Britain is an important trading partner for Hungary.

Given that currently the bloc faces the most grave terror threat in its existence, close security cooperation between the EU and Britain should be maintained so that collective defence can be relied on, he said.

A deal should be reached on protecting the rights of EU citizens working in Britain as quickly as possible, Szijjártó said, adding that it is a fair proposition that the rights of Britons working in the EU should be guaranteed in exchange. This is a good basis for negotiation, he said.

He said Brexit had been bad news for the whole of Europe and Hungary, since the bloc’s second-biggest economy and the world’s fifth-biggest would be leaving the EU. It is also a reflection of failure on the part of Brussels that Britons had decided to exit the union, yet the consequences in terms of the careers of politicians had only taken place in London, not in Brussels, the minister said.

Szijjártó argued that the decision of Britons should be respected, and only they had the right to decide over the future of their country. For this reason, all critical approaches to their decision must be rejected, he added.

Radical changes are under way around the world and some understand this while others dispute it. But even those that refused to accept that a new world order is developing must now accept that they were wrong, Szijjártó said.