“Hungary has opened a diplomatic representation in Luxembourg, which will also be providing consular services, where the Hungarian community of some two thousand living in the country and Hungarians living in the neighbouring areas of Belgium and Germany will also be able to manage their affairs”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in Luxembourg on Monday.

At the official opening of the Luxembourg office of Hungary’s Embassy to Brussels, Mr. Szijjártó said: “The time has come for us to make good the previous mistake of our predecessors with which they closed the Hungarian representation ten years go”. “Because Hungary believes that a personal presence is what enables effective representation”, he underlined.

The Minister told reporters that bilateral trade flow between the two countries had “broken all previous records” last year, with Hungarian exports increasing by 28 percent to over 100 million euros, while Luxembourgian enterprises operating in Hungary are also continuously increasing their capacities. As examples of the latter, he cited the fact that the Luxembourgian glass plant operating in Orosháza is planning to increase its capacity, and one of Europe’s largest air freight companies, Cargolux, has double its capacity and increased the number of its Hungarian flights to six-a-week, providing an opportunity to open further markets.

A low-cost airline will be launching a direct air passenger service between Luxembourg and Budapest this October, he added. The Minister also said that the Luxembourg office is the fourth diplomatic representation opened by Hungary this year, following Miami in the United States, Wroclaw in Poland and Jerusalem in Israel. “The Government is planning to open twenty similar representations in the upcoming period”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

In his speech, Luxembourgian Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn spoke about the fact that Great Britain’s planned exit from the European Union has shown that there is a need for unity and for bilateral relations to supplement EU efforts, and which also provide opportunities to consolidate partnerships and within regional cooperation.

He said that in his opinion the Visegrád Group (V4), including Hungary, and the Benelux countries can cooperate to overcome common challenges. “Dialogue between countries on common goals must be maintained, and we must work together to determine opportunities that provide further advantages”, the Luxembourgian Foreign Minister added.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)