Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the development of bilateral relations and agreed to further strengthen them, at a meeting in Paris. Currently 45,000-50,000 Hungarian families make a living at French-owned companies in Hungary, and bilateral trade turnover has doubled in ten years, Orbán said, adding that one of France’s biggest companies was also involved in the Hungarian state’s reacquisition of Liszt Ferenc International Airport. Orbán said he had met representatives of that company on Tuesday, and today he and Macron had reaffirmed that this was not merely an investment but also a major development programme that was important to both France and Hungary.
Orbán said they had also spoken about European affairs at their meeting. He noted that France is leading a European nuclear coalition of EU countries that say clean energy is impossible without nuclear energy. Hungary has been a part of the coalition since the beginning, he noted, adding that they had clarified the details of their cooperation in the matter. The prime minister noted that French companies are also heavily involved in the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant. Orbán said he and Macron had also agreed on expanding their defence industry cooperation. France has already brought defence industry investments to Hungary, but the two countries are also exploring new opportunities for cooperation, he said.