Index – Foreign – British Ambassador in the Index: One hundred thousand Hungarians have already registered



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How are you dealing with the coronavirus epidemic? What kind of Christmas will the British have?

Our Prime Minister recently announced that the general quarantine will be replaced by a three-tier system next week, in which we classify each area according to the degree of risk. However, the situation remains dire, not just in the UK but elsewhere. It is not just a public health crisis, but an epidemic with serious economic consequences. Strict measures are needed to start the fight against the virus.

Christmas won’t be missed this year either, but members of up to three different households can only get together.

This is a very difficult decision in families where, for example, there are three adult children who have already formed their own families. Even this regulation will only be in effect for a few days.

They don’t disappear into the ocean

There is another obstacle right in front of you. Trade talks on Brexit continued over the weekend. The transition period is coming to an end at the end of the year and it is unclear what will follow from January. What is at stake and what do you personally expect?

I would not call it an obstacle, but a process: our country left the European Union at the end of January. The current negotiations are about, and are at stake, about how our relationship with the EU will develop. You are right: time is running out, a decision is needed.

Both parties must probably show a willingness to compromise.

I hope that an agreement will be reached and I believe that it is possible. We are leaving the customs union and the European single market, but we want to trade with our European friends as much as we can. There are still differences of opinion, we can see more clearly until the EU summit in December. As they say in Hungary, we will see (says this in Hungarian – ed.). We want to see an agreement, but we will not disappear in the Atlantic even if it does not exist.

The search for points begins

Citizens can learn more about what Brexit means in their lives from January on various information portals. The Index has also produced question and answer responses for its readers. But do we already see, for example, the conditions under which we can order products from Great Britain to Hungary online?

The issue of citizens’ rights is important. The exit agreement guarantees the rights of Hungarians living in the UK and British living in Hungary. The goal is for people to be able to live, work and study in the same way after the transition period as now. During the transition period, for example, we made it possible for Hungarian citizens already living in our country to settle there before December 31 to apply for a settlement permit until the end of June 2021.

One hundred thousand Hungarian citizens have already registered.

Those who want to settle, work or study after January 1 must prove that they meet the immigration conditions on the basis of a point system. Visitors leaving Hungary can also stay visa-free for up to three months. When it comes to online shopping, this question largely depends on whether and to what extent the ongoing negotiations will lead to results. If so, there is a high probability that there are not many changes compared to the current situation.

He mentioned that we will be able to travel without a visa after that. But from October we will need a passport, our identification will no longer be accepted. Why not?

This is our practice. We have always traveled abroad with a passport, the staff with us has not extended. The same will apply to citizens of the EU as to those of any part of the world.

We are no longer members of the EU. How does this change the dynamics of relations between Hungary and Great Britain?

This situation provides an opportunity to strengthen our relations on a bilateral basis. One of the main areas is commerce; just think of British companies like Tesco or Vodafone. Another is foreign policy and defense cooperation in NATO or the Western Balkans, and the third is relations between our peoples. These include educational exchanges or research. In the last two months since I’ve been here, I have seen a mutual effort to deepen relationships.

They don’t ask Huawei

Is this also the case for telecommunications? The Chinese giant Huawei is judged very differently by Hungary and the United States. Europe is somewhere in the middle, but what is the British position?

There is no single EU position, each country develops its own position. We don’t want to depend solely on one provider, by that I mean Huawei. By 2027, this company will gradually withdraw from critical British telecommunications infrastructure. The aim is to diversify so that more high-tech companies can play a role in this field. We also made our decision seeking the opinions of the other five countries involved in Eye Cooperation: Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand; Members of this forum also share information with each other. It is up to the EU countries to take a position.

The world is already preparing for the presidency of Joe Biden. What do you expect from the new United States government in London?

It’s hard to say, as he has yet to take office, although of course there are guidelines. The point is that the UK is working closely with every American administration, regardless of who the gentleman is in the White House.

The United States is one of our closest allies and that does not change. We see free and fair elections in America and we look forward to working with Biden.

We would like to work closely with the new administration in a number of areas, in particular COP26. United Nations In the run-up to your 26th Climate Summit. The summit will be co-hosted by the UK next year with Italy.

(Cover Image: Isza Ferenc / Index)



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