Hungary to Oppose Any Attempts to Severe Economic Ties Between Europe and China, FM Says

Budapest have been urging the EU leadership to stick to pragmatic policies, as the bloc is suffering from economic hardships, including record-high inflation and an energy crisis after Brussels implemented sanctions against Russia.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned on Thursday that his country would be turning down any attempts to sever economic relations between the EU and Beijing.

“Because it is not politically correct, it is not mentioned too often, but if you add up the trade volumes of the 27 EU countries, our #1 trade partner is China. There is a serious issue on the agenda - the possible destruction of the economic interaction between Europe and China, which we should definitely oppose; because if the ties between Chinese and European companies and businesses, the ties between the two economies are severed, it will have a tragic effect on the European economy," Szijjarto said at an energy conference.

The minister previously held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, noting that only third parties are interested in the deterioration of EU-China ties.

His statement comes after reports suggested that the foreign ministers of the bloc were advised to toughen their stance against Beijing by the European External Action Service, which called China an "all-out competitor."

This is not the first time the issue of cooperation with China has been the focus of the European agenda.

For example, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz found himself in the spotlight after reports suggested he was backing the purchase of a foothold in Hamburg port by the Chinese state-owned shipping company Cosco.

The move brought harsh criticism from other parties in the German governing coalition - the Free Democratic Party and Greens, saying the deal is a huge risk. At the same time, the head of Germany’s foreign security service BND warned that the country should not be "painfully dependent" on China.