Szabolcs Takács, Political Director of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, paid a visit to London to meet his British counterpart Simon Gass and several foreign policy advisors to Prime Minister David Cameron. Following his meetings, Szabolcs Takács stated that Hungary and Britain shared many mutual interests, and that this had already become clear during Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Britain in early October.

The Hungarian Political Director declared that topics of discussion had included the Syrian crisis, the integration of the Western Balkans and the EU Eastern Partnership. With respect to the crisis in Syria, both sides agreed that the Syrian opposition should be represented by as many of the various Syrian ethnic and religious groups as possible at the upcoming Geneva talks. Moreover, Mr. Takács stressed that it was important to find a political solution with a "foreseeable roadmap".

Szabolcs Takács said that Britain’s position on the integration of the Western Balkans and the EU Eastern Partnership was quite close to that of Hungary, which makes it all the more important to conduct frequent and direct consultations between the two countries. He added that the significance of Hungary was particularly high for Britain in this respect because Hungary is holder of the Visegrad Group presidency in 2013-2014.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)