Global Times: Hungary’s election winner Peter Magyar, who is set to become new prime minister, said on Monday that he is open to pragmatic cooperation with China and that cooperation serves the interests of both sides, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Speaking at his first international press conference after his Tisza party won Sunday’s parliamentary election, Magyar said China is “one of the most important and strongest countries in the world” and that cooperation is in the interest of both countries. “I would be very happy to visit Beijing, and we would also be very pleased to welcome Chinese leaders here in Hungary,” he said, Xinhua reported. China congratulates the Tisza party led by Mr. Peter Magyar on the parliamentary election victory in Hungary, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday.
China deeply values its ties with Hungary and stands ready to work with the new Hungarian government on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit to enhance high-level exchanges, deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and deliver more benefits to both peoples, Guo said. According to reports, Tisza party defeated Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling coalition by securing a majority in the elections.
Magyar on Monday also thanked Russia and China for “accepting” the results of Hungary’s landmark parliamentary elections. Magyar told reporters that he welcomed Moscow and Beijing “being open to pragmatic cooperation, just as Hungary is,” according to Wion News. Addressing Chinese investment projects in Hungary, Magyar said such investments will be reviewed, but not with the aim of undermining or stopping them.
Rather, he said, the goal will be to ensure that the projects comply with European Union and Hungarian standards on environmental protection, health and labor, and that they contribute to the performance of the Hungarian economy, according to Xinhua. He said such projects can be beneficial if supply chains are developed, Hungarian small- and medium-sized enterprises are able to participate, and value chains are created that contribute to Hungary’s gross domestic product and the well-being of its people. “We warmly welcome investors – we just need to find common interests,” he said, per Xinhua.
Magyar’s latest remarks, which expressed openness to cooperation with China while also stressing compliance with EU and Hungarian standards, suggest that his overall stance toward China is relatively moderate and pragmatic and sets a constructive tone for China ties at the outset, Zhao Junjie, a senior research fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
A South China Morning Post report described Hungary’s prime minister-elect Peter Magyar’s remarks on Monday as a “warm overture” to China. It cited Magyar as saying, “We want to position Hungarian companies as partners of BYD, CATL [Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd], and other major investors, and I believe we will be able to cooperate.”
Magyar is generally seen as supportive of deeper European integration, distinguishing him from Orban’s stronger emphasis on national sovereignty and more independent approach toward the EU, Zhao said.
Zhao said cooperation with China in sectors such as new energy, electric vehicles and renewable energy is likely to continue, and that Hungary is unlikely to turn away from Chinese investment or major bilateral projects. As practical engagement deepens, Magyar may come to better understand China and the value of cooperation, given the substantial results already delivered by China-Hungary and China-Europe cooperation.
