Secret Brexit compromise? – Is Hungary about to veto the EU extension?

UK PM Boris Johnson and Foreign Minister of Hungary Péter Szijjártó were in the same building along with the Hungarian Ambassador right before calling for an emergency meeting for the Cabinet on Friday. 

Péter Szijjártó and Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczk were caught on tape leaving the Cabinet office on Friday morning, express.co.uk reports. It was taken at the same time as Boris Johnson called for an emergency Cabinet meeting, providing a reason for speculation about a Hungarian veto for the Brexit extension request. 

“Keep an eye on Hungary. The fact that Boris Johnson is saying he’ll ask for #BrexitExtension soon after meeting with one of the countries most likely to want to veto the extension request… concerns me…” 

tweeted Femi Oluwole, a remain campaigner, on Twitter. Users joined the speculation immediately in the comment section: “Curious. Is Johnson getting Hungary to veto his EU extension?” Another wrote: “So the theory is, No. 10 had a chat with Hungary this week to get them to veto an extension to A50?”

“There is, so far as I can see, still one, and only one, way through for the Government to 31 October. If they can cause an r27 to veto the extension the statements to the court are fine and the PM gets to deliver his promise. If (as I now expect) the Court orders that the PM not frustrate or thwart the terms of the Benn Act in the terms we have sought then (I believe) the Government is screwed. We will not be able to make good on whatever we might have promised eg Hungary and they will know it,” 

Jolyon Maugham QC posted. Previously, Hungary refused to veto the Brexit extension. According to Péter Szijjártó,

“If there is such a request, we’ll make our own decision. A few large western European member states really want to put an end to this and want it decided one way or another, so probably it won’t be our decision that will be key on this issue,” 

said the Hungarian Foreign Minister.

On Thursday night, Szijjártó expressed his frustration about the EU by saying that he was “fed up” with their attitude towards Brexit. In his interview, he told BBC’s Newsnight:

“We are really fed up with all those approaches in Europe and in the world when some countries think that it’s homework for them to lecture others. And to tell others how they should accommodate their life and tell others how they should debate and again we don’t want to be ridiculous either. So, we will not give any kind of advice, we’ll not give any kind of comment, we’re not going to criticise, we’re not going to judge, we’ll just follow. And then we’ll see what’s the consequence. UK is a friend and ally, not to speak about the fact that you know I don’t like those statement and those approaches. Mostly on behalf of Brussels, which try to diminish the significance of the UK leaving the European Union. So saying that ‘oh it’s not going to hurt’ or ‘it’s not going to have an impact’, I mean this is simply not true.”

He continued:

“UK represents 14 per cent of the performance of the achievement of the European economy. 14 per cent, one-seventh, now you do not need to be a Nobel Prize winner to understand that if 14 per cent of an economy performance of an integration leaves, that will leave some challenges for those who remain.”

UK PM Boris Johnson also seems confident, as he tweeted on Friday afternoon:

“New deal or no deal – but no delay. #GetBrexitDone #LeaveOct31.”

Moreover, Eurosceptic Tory MP Steve Baker also insists on meeting the deadline of 31 October, even if the government states that it would request an extension in order to prevent no-deal. 

You can read more about the view of Hungarian FM about Boris Johnson here. You can also read about the situation of Hungarian people who want to stay in the UK after Brexit here. 

Source: express.co.uk