Economy
May and Orbán commit to strong bilateral relations
Save article
Share
The two leaders agreed to maintain strong bilateral relations as the U.K. prepares to leave the EU, politico.eu reported on Thursday.
Officials in Brussels have expressed concerns that May will seek to work closely with Orbán - a controversial figure for his hardline stance on refugees - in order to drive a wedge between European leaders ahead of Brexit negotiations, the portal added.
May told Orbán that, despite the pending Supreme Court appeal over her government’s authority to trigger Article 50 without giving MPs a vote, she would begin the formal process of exiting the EU by the end of March as planned.
“They discussed the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. and the prime minister reaffirmed that she wants and expects to protect the status of EU nationals, but that British citizens’ rights in European member states must be protected in return," the spokesperson said.
“On migration the prime minister laid out her position that we should ensure that refugees are hosted in the first safe country of transit; that we distinguish between refugees and economic migrants; and that all states have the rights and responsibilities to control their borders and accept returned illegal migrants."
According to a report by Hungarian news agency MTI, the two leaders had agreed that the issue of workers’ rights must be settled on the basis of the principle of reciprocity; this means that if there is no curtailment of the rights acquired by British citizens residing in Europe, the position of the British government is that naturally neither can there be curtailment of the rights of EU nationals working in Britain.
Orbán stated that this was an important outcome of his meeting with the British PM. He added that there are some one hundred and fifty thousand Hungarian citizens earning a living through jobs linked to Britain - either working in Britain, or as the employees of British-owned businesses operating in Hungary.
With regard to the result of the US presidential election, Orbán stated that the world has always benefited whenever it has managed to release itself from the captivity of currently dominant ideological trends.
“In my view, this is what has happened just now in the United States. This also gives the rest of the Western world the chance to free itself from the captivity of ideologies, of political correctness, and of modes of thought and expression which are remote from reality: the chance to come back down to earth [and] see the world as it really is", the Prime Minister said.
Officials in Brussels have expressed concerns that May will seek to work closely with Orbán - a controversial figure for his hardline stance on refugees - in order to drive a wedge between European leaders ahead of Brexit negotiations, the portal added.
May told Orbán that, despite the pending Supreme Court appeal over her government’s authority to trigger Article 50 without giving MPs a vote, she would begin the formal process of exiting the EU by the end of March as planned.
“They discussed the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. and the prime minister reaffirmed that she wants and expects to protect the status of EU nationals, but that British citizens’ rights in European member states must be protected in return," the spokesperson said.
“On migration the prime minister laid out her position that we should ensure that refugees are hosted in the first safe country of transit; that we distinguish between refugees and economic migrants; and that all states have the rights and responsibilities to control their borders and accept returned illegal migrants."
According to a report by Hungarian news agency MTI, the two leaders had agreed that the issue of workers’ rights must be settled on the basis of the principle of reciprocity; this means that if there is no curtailment of the rights acquired by British citizens residing in Europe, the position of the British government is that naturally neither can there be curtailment of the rights of EU nationals working in Britain.
Orbán stated that this was an important outcome of his meeting with the British PM. He added that there are some one hundred and fifty thousand Hungarian citizens earning a living through jobs linked to Britain - either working in Britain, or as the employees of British-owned businesses operating in Hungary.
They have interests which we must protect. So it is in our interest that the trade aspect of British-Hungarian relations should continue to be open and free in the future
, Orbán said.With regard to the result of the US presidential election, Orbán stated that the world has always benefited whenever it has managed to release itself from the captivity of currently dominant ideological trends.
“In my view, this is what has happened just now in the United States. This also gives the rest of the Western world the chance to free itself from the captivity of ideologies, of political correctness, and of modes of thought and expression which are remote from reality: the chance to come back down to earth [and] see the world as it really is", the Prime Minister said.
