Hungary’s foreign minister meets UK Brexit minister

Budapest, April 20 (MTI) – Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó met David Davis, the United Kingdom’s secretary of state for exiting the European Union, for talks in Budapest on Thursday.

At a press conference after the talks, Szijjártó called for a “fair” Brexit agreement, one which enforces both European and British interests.

The EU should negotiate “the broadest possible” free trade agreement with the UK, while the UK should stay a part of Europe’s security and defence systems, Szijjártó said. Concerning the UK’s contributions to the common European budget, he said that a relevant agreement should ensure “a balance of rights and obligations after Brexit”.

“We respect the British decision to quit, but we regret it; it is a great loss for Europe,” Szijjártó said. He added that Brexit could impact most central and eastern Europe, and insisted that without the UK’s payments to the European budget in 2019-2020, Hungary could lose up to 1.5 billion euros.