Orbán wishes to strengthen Hungarian-British relations after Sunak's appointment

Viktor Orbán has sent a congratulatory letter to Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The Hungarian Prime Minister mentioned the excellent bilateral relations between Hungary and the United Kingdom and pointed out that the cooperation is based on mutual respect, shared values, common interests and deep-rooted historical ties. Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister's press chief told MTI about the content of the letter.

Orbán wrote that in a crisis like the current one, it is crucial to increase the intensity of the already close cooperation between the two countries as like-minded allies and partners. "I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to strengthening Hungarian-British relations as well as to developing a strong and mutually beneficial cooperation between the UK and the European Union," the Hungarian Prime Minister said in his letter.

Orbán recently told the Budapester Zeitung that before Brexit, the British had been a protective shield for Hungary and Poland in the European Union. "While the British were there, there were no punitive measures like the ones we see now. There were no rule of law procedures, no conditionality mechanism, no joint loans. At that time they did not dare to do anything like that. But the British, unfortunately left. So we were left without protection," the prime minister said commenting on the withholding of EU funds.

The former finance minister of Indian origin in the Boris Johnson government has made history by becoming the first non-Christian politician to hold the post. Sunak is expected to be received by Charles III on Tuesday to be formally appointed prime minister.