Hungarian FM: Boris Johnson should be respected, not attacked

On his official visit to London on Thursday, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó stated that Boris Johnson is striving to execute the will of the people, therefore, he should not be subject to attacks, instead, he deserves respect.

As reported by Hungarian state newswire MTI, Szijjártó said:

"Hungary believes that the attacks in the international press against Prime Minister Boris Johnson are unjust. Hungary's interest is to filter out all circumstances that could hamper cooperation in the future. (...) We could see earlier, for instance in the case of the US President, that European media pressure created challenges in Euro-American relations, and this is something that would be good to avoid."

Szijjártó also told MTI that even though he also read the rumours that Johnson might be trying to convince the Hungarian government to veto the EU's possible extension of the Brexit-deadline, however, he said the Hungarian government has not received such a request, though he added he's not sure if all 27 remaining member states of the EU could agree to a new Brexit deal in the couple of days or weeks that would be available for the decision, although

The Hungarian FM also stated that Hungary "did its homework" and had already passed the legislation necessary to safeguard rights of British nationals residing in the country, no matter what the outcome of the Brexit process would eventually be, which is in line with what Iain Lindsay, the UK's ambassador to Hungary told Index in our interview with him in September.

Péter Szijjártó was in London to meet the UK's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dominic Raab and Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay.

(Cover: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó (l) and the UK's Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (r) in London on 3 October 2019. Photo: Burger Zsolt / MTI)