“Boris Johnson is an outstanding politician who knows what he’s doing, and he is working to enact the will of the people”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Hungarian M1 television’s Friday morning current affairs program.

Mr. Szijjártó expressed the Hungarian administration’s regret with relation to the fact that Great Britain is leaving the European Union, calling it a major political economic, strategic and security loss, but also indicated that Hungary is respecting the decision. “Only the British can decide their own future, and Hungary has never been one of those countries that regard it as their homework to criticise the decisions of other countries”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. “Today, anyone who goes against the media mainstream clearly find themselves under major pressure from the international press”, Mr. Szijjártó declared, calling the attacks against Boris Johnson unbelievable and mostly unfair, adding that in his opinion no politician should be criticised for enacting the will of the people. The Minister said it is important that nothing should happen until Brexit occurs that could lead to further difficulties with respect to cooperation between Great Britain and the European Union.

“Great Britain is among the ten most important investors and trade partners of Hungary’s small but open economy, and accordingly it is clearly in our interests for there to be as few barriers as possible to our economic cooperation”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted. During the interview, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the goal was a close agreement, similar to a free trade agreement. He also spoke about the fact that behind the success of the Hungarian economy lies the fact that, based on the expertise and diligence of Hungarian workers, foreign companies are bringing to Hungary technologies that manufacture and offer state-of-the-art products and services. “43 major investments arrived in Hungary during the first half of 2019, at a total value of 731 billion forints (EUR 2.2 bn), and creating 7200 new workplaces”, he stressed. Mr. Szijjártó said claims that Hungary is Europe’s assembly plant were ridiculous, explaining that in recent years investments have been representing a continuously increasing level of added value, include an increasing research & development content, and have an increasingly high level of technology, which is also mirrored by the increasing wages being paid by these investors. “While in 2017 the average salary paid by an investor arriving in Hungary was 304 thousand forints-a-month, this figure was 420 thousand forints last year, and increased further to 505 thousand forints during the first half of this year”, the Foreign Minister highlighted.

(MTI)