New momentum in Hungary-US relations: Defence, diplomacy, and agriculture in focus

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Illustration. Photo: depositphotos.com

Peace will be beneficial especially if Europe, similarly to Hungary, finds common ground with the US, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said at the meeting of the Hungarian Atlantic Council (MAT) late on Thursday.

Receiving the body’s Antall József Prize for supporting the Transatlantic concept and aiding the council’s work, Gergely Gulyás told the body’s general assembly that the change of government in the US had been a “relief” for Hungary as the previous Democrat administration had been “expressly unfriendly”.

He said “the US does not want to protect Europe” and expects the bloc to develop its defence capabilities “which have been neglected for decades”. Meanwhile, referring to József Antall, Hungary’s first prime minister after the fall of communism, Gulyás said he worked at a time when “respect was the ruling tone of public life … that has ceased, it is no more”. “That is a serious hit to democracy,” he said.

Lauding Gulyás, Zsolt Németh, the head of parliament’s foreign policy committee and the MAT vice-president, said the minister had a “nationalist, Christian, conservative and protestant set of values” and was “an operative problem-solver” who played a role in “protecting the victims of the events of 2006, creating the Fundamental Law, or fostering Hungary’s crucial relations with German-speaking states.”

Ministry: Hungary-US agricultural ties given new momentum

The University of Debrecen and South Dakota State University have signed an agreement on offering a dual-degree programme in precision agricultural engineering, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. The agreement “goes well beyond” the formal partnership between the two institutions, and will open a new chapter in Hungarian-US professional relations, Oszkár Ökrös, a deputy state secretary at the ministry, said.

The Hungarian government’s “excellent relations” with the new US administration have given “great momentum” to bilateral professional relations, Ökrös said. The dual-degree programme, he added, served as “another bridge between the two countries” alongside a host of other partnerships, such as cooperation with Perdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Before the signing ceremony, Ökrös held talks with Nicolas Rubio, the US Department of Agriculture’s agricultural attache for central Europe. The two officials were in agreement on the potential in advancing bilateral agricultural technology and trade relations, underlining the strategic importance of a mutually beneficial agreement in light of the damage both sides would suffer in a prolonged trade war between the European Union and the United States.

Emphasising that disagreements should be solved at the negotiating table, Ökrös urged the European Commission to conduct effective talks with Washington instead of introducing countermeasures.

Read more about US-Hungary relations HERE.

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Featured image: depositphotos.com

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