FM Szijjártó: Hungary plans to boost Southeast Asia ties during EU presidency

One important goal of Hungary’s upcoming European Union presidency will be to further intensify cooperation with Southeast Asia, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Brunei on Thursday.

Szijjártó noted the timeliness of the first-ever visit by a Hungarian foreign minister to the sultanate of Brunei given that Hungary is next in line to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

Hungary’s government intends to restart free trade talks with the region’s countries during its presidency, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.

He said the EU was set to benefit significantly from forging closer ties with Southeast Asia, arguing that the bloc needed fresh impetus to stop its decline caused by the war in Ukraine, its “unreasonable economic measures” and the practice of “politicising and ideologising important issues”.

“If we’re looking for economic momentum, economic growth or new dynamism, we’ll definitely find it here in Southeast Asia,” Szijjártó said. “The countries here have demonstrated exceptional economic growth in recent years.”

Szijjártó in Brunei

The minister noted that with Brunei set to become the ASEAN’s coordinator for dialogue with the EU, Hungary and Brunei will be the countries responsible for coordinating EU-ASEAN cooperation in the coming period.

He said Hungary plans to restart talks on an EU-ASEAN free trade deal as well as on a cooperation agreement between the EU and Brunei.

The free trade agreement, he said, would be in the interest of both Europe and Hungary, arguing that Hungary’s products and services were competitive on the international market.

“Our interests therefore lie in minimising barriers to trade … and in getting Hungarian goods and services onto the Southeast Asian markets,” Szijjártó said.