“It would serve the interests of Hungary and the whole of the European Union if negotiations on the termination of Britain’s membership of European Union were to end in an agreement”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Monday in London.

The Minister attended a forum for stock exchange directors from the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), after which he set off for bilateral talks with British Defence Minister Gavin Williamson.

Between these two stops on his official visit, Mr. Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI: “Hungary regards the maintaining of security cooperation with Great Britain as extremely important in view of the fact that the EU is facing major security-related challenges, with relation to which Great Britain’s intelligence and defence capacities cannot be ignored”. “Europe cannot afford the luxury of not using these capacities”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

“Accordingly, Hungary is calling for the tightest possible defence and secret service cooperation between Great Britain and the European Union to remain in place following the end of the Brexit negotiations”, he declared.

“Great Britain is directly involved in 12 of the European Union’s 15 foreign missions being run under the umbrella of joint security and defence policy, and if London pulls out of them then these missions will either cease to exist or will continue with a terminally reduced capacity”, he stressed.

“Amongst others, the British are also playing a role in international missions that are also important to Hungary, primarily including missions in the Western Balkans, in view of the fact that maintaining peace and stability in this region is vital from the perspective of Hungary’s security”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

“In the past there have been several military exercises in which British and Hungarian military personnel jointly took part, and Hungary would like to continue these”, he added.

As he also mentioned in his speech at the London Stock Exchange, in his statement to MTI the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “It is also in Hungary’s interests for a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement to come about between Great Britain and the European Union, because otherwise the EU’s competitiveness could be weakened further in view of the fact that the British economy provides 14 percent of the European Union’s total economic performance”.

“According to Hungary’s way of thinking, a fair Brexit means economic cooperation between Great Britain and the EU that regulates bilateral trade based on a free trade agreement, rather than according to the general rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)”, Mr. Szijjártó stated.

“In the opinion of the Hungarian Government, a fair Brexit also includes successfully protecting the rights of Hungarian citizens who live, work or study in Great Britain”, he added.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)