The foreign minister has opened Hungary’s new diplomatic mission in Luxembourg, the local office of the Hungarian embassy in Brussels.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the new mission, which will also handle consular duties, will be open to Luxembourg’s 2,000-strong Hungarian community as well as Hungarians living in nearby parts of Belgium and Germany wishing to take care of consular matters.
“The time has come to correct our predecessors’ mistake of closing Hungarian foreign missions ten years ago,” the minister said. Hungary believes foreign representation requires a personal presence in order to be effective, he said.
Minister Szijjártó said trade between Hungary and Luxembourg “broke all previous records” last year, noting that Hungarian exports to the country rose by 28 percent to 100 million euros.
According to MTI, Luxembourg firms present in Hungary are also continuously expanding their capacities. Among them are a glass factory in Orosháza, in south-eastern Hungary, and cargo carrier Cargolux, which will now operate six flights a week to and from Budapest. One of the low-cost airlines will also launch a direct flight between Luxembourg and Budapest in October.
The minister noted that the Luxembourg office is Hungary’s fourth diplomatic mission to open this year, following the opening of offices in Miami, Wroclaw and Jerusalem. The Hungarian government plans to open twenty similar missions in the coming period, he added.