Hungarian FM accuses EU of “killing economy” by failing to address US trade issues

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has sharply criticized the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, for failing to negotiate effectively with the United States, which he claims has resulted in significant economic setbacks for the European Union.

In a Facebook post, Szijjártó accused the European bureaucracy of "killing the European economy" due to its refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations, Caliber.Az reports citing Russian media.

He pointed to a series of factors, including sanctions against Russia, tariffs on Chinese electric cars, and the EU's inability to address trade issues with the US, which he believes have exacerbated economic difficulties.

"Brussels bureaucracy is killing the European economy: sanctions against Russia, tariffs against the Chinese electric car industry, and a complete inability to negotiate with the United States," Szijjártó wrote.

The minister argued that the EU had long been aware of US President Donald Trump’s desire for more balanced trade relations with Europe, yet Brussels failed to act. "The whole world, including Brussels and the European Commission led by von der Leyen, knew that Donald Trump wanted balanced trade relations with the European Union," he stated. "Brussels also knew that if they did nothing, Washington would impose duties. They knew, but they did nothing. Because they are incompetent and extremely cowardly."

Szijjártó emphasized that EU leaders had repeatedly criticized Trump over the past eight years but now found themselves unwilling to engage with him, calling this "cowardice" on the part of Brussels. He further blamed von der Leyen's leadership for isolating the European economy from both the US and China.

"The European economy is now receiving another blow because of von der Leyen's leadership in Brussels," Szijjártó said, adding that the situation could have been easily addressed. He highlighted Hungary’s proposal to reduce tariffs on American cars from 10 per cent to 2.5 per cent, aligning with the tariff rate imposed by the US on European cars. Despite the simplicity of the solution, he claimed, Brussels failed to act.

Szijjártó concluded by announcing that Hungary would take matters into its own hands, continuing bilateral talks with the US in a bid to strengthen Hungarian-American economic cooperation. "What Brussels failed to do, we have to fix here in Budapest. We will continue bilateral talks with the US administration to establish the most successful Hungarian-American economic cooperation of all time in the coming months," he said.

By Vafa Guliyeva