Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has opened up about the effects of Brexit on his country, stating that it was “bad news”. Since the UK left the European Union in 2020, the foreign minister said debates had become “very unbalanced” and "not in favour" of Budapest. Mr Szijjártó admitted of Hungary’s longing for the UK while speaking at The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the world’s oldest defence and security think tank, in London this week.

He spoke on a number of matters, including Budapest’s stance on the war between Russia and Ukraine, his country's clashes with Brussels, and Brexit. Mr Szijjártó said: “Whatever is good for the British must be decided by the British. So you decided, as you decided. We respected that, but that was bad news to us.

“The major debates within the European Union between the federalists and the sovereigntists became very unbalanced by the UK leaving. The UK was basically the leader of the sovereigntist camp within the European Union.

“Members of that camp think the European Union should be a strong integration of strong member states, countering the federalists who think that the European Union should be a United States of Europe, a federalistic superstate state run directly by and from Brussels.”

He added: “Since the UK has left, this debate has become very unbalanced and not in favour of ourselves, unfortunately.”

During his speech at the RUSI, the foreign minister also spoke on Hungary’s relationship with the US, claiming they are “extremely grateful for President Trump”. Discussing the EU sanctions on Russia, enforced following the unlawful invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mr Szijjártó admitted that Hungary could back US sanctions, despite branding the bloc's as a “failure”.

He explained that if Donald Trump used them as a tool of punishment for Vladimir Putin failing to accept his Ukraine ceasefire deal, he would be open to supporting the Western sanctions.

“Our decision in the future will be determined by the circumstances in the future,” he said.

This comes after President Trump threatened Russia with tariffs and US sanctions last week, if a peace deal is not reached.

The Hungarian minister also hit out at Brussels this week for its reaction to the US tariffs. He said: “We want negotiation rather than countermeasures,” after the EU hit back with retaliatory levies.