The German left-wing politician is pressuring BMW to relocate to Romania from Hungary.Continue reading
The suggestion by the “Hungarophobic” vice-president of the European Parliament that BMW should move its investment to Romania instead of Hungary is ridiculous, and the political blackmail of German companies investing in Hungary is a complete failure, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Wednesday.
In a joint press conference with his Yemeni counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs called Katarina Barley, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, a “Hungary-hater”, and her statement that BMW should move its investment to Romania instead of Hungary “ridiculous”.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Avad bin Mubarak (L) with Péter Szijjártó. Photo: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
The minister said that some political forces were trying to blackmail German companies investing in Hungary, but that this was a complete failure as the number of these companies is growing and the vast majority of them are cooperating with the government in a very harmonious way. He pointed out that the construction of the BMW plant is also progressing according to plan, with the company bringing a very important element of its electromobility strategy to Debrecen.
The German socialists want these job-creating, high-tech investments to be made in Romania instead of Hungary, and I sometimes have the feeling that the Hungarian left wants this too, but fortunately it is not up to them, but to the decisions of the investors and the cooperation between the investors and the Hungarian government,”
he said. He underlined that “despite all the efforts of this lady, the German and Hungarian left”, this year could even double last year’s investment record.
Regarding the blacklisting of OTP in Ukraine, Szijjártó reiterated that the government will not contribute to further support for arms transfers from the European Peace Facility until the financial institution is removed from this list.
There are all kinds of promises, but the easiest thing would be to remove the OTP from this list, just as it was put on it, but to date this has not been done,”
he said.
Reacting to the issue of US cluster bombs sent to Ukraine, the minister said that the delivery of weapons risked prolonging and escalating the war. Moreover, as he pointed out, cluster bombs can have tragic humanitarian consequences. “We therefore urge everyone to move towards peace rather than the threat of escalating war. So it would be good if our allies, instead of cluster bombs or any other weapons, would bring peace to their neighbors, to save lives.”
Dr. Gerhard Papke, former German FDP politician and the honorary president of the German-Hungarian Society, reacted to Barley’s statements on Twitter saying:
SPD-Barley publicly calls on German companies to stop investing in #Hungary! Apparently, the blind hatred of Hungary of the German leftists in Brussels and Berlin knows no bounds anymore. But Hungarians should know that such figures do not speak for Germany!
SPD-Barley ruft deutsche Unternehmen öffentlich dazu auf, nicht mehr in #Ungarn zu investieren! Offenbar kennt der blinde Ungarn-Hass der deutschen Linken in Brüssel und Berlin keine Grenzen mehr. Aber die Ungarn sollten wissen, dass solche Figuren nicht für Deutschland sprechen!
— Gerhard Papke (@PapkeGerhard) July 18, 2023
Via MTI; Featured Image: Facebook Katarina Barley