The foreign minister said cooperation between the Netherlands and Hungary “would be much better were it based on mutual respect” and “if the Dutch were not so obsessed with Hungary’s domestic affairs”.
Following talks with Stef Blok, the Dutch foreign minister, in the Hague, Péter Szijjártó told MTI that from an economic point of view, bilateral relations are “harmonic”, with the Netherlands being Hungary’s seventh largest trade partner and tenth largest investor. Minister Szijjártó said seven Dutch companies had received grants from the Hungarian government during the pandemic to complete projects worth a combined HUF 3.5 billion (EUR 9.7m) and save over 1,500 jobs.
“At the same time we are subject to continual political attacks by the Netherlands, which we regret,” Minister Szijjártó said. “We never meant to interfere with Dutch internal politics. We could now rejoice that the Dutch government was forced to resign… but it is none of our business,” he added.
“I do hope that our excellent economic and trade ties will in time positively impact political relations, too,” Minister Szijjártó concluded.