(July 15): Former Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto resigned from parliament to join Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD Co, which is currently building its first European car plant in the country’s south.
Szijjarto, the longtime pro-Russian top diplomat of Hungary who had also championed Chinese electric-vehicle investments, will be responsible for external relations and the development of new business lines at the Chinese automotive giant.
“BYD has been one of the greatest automotive success stories of the past two decades and the world’s leading manufacturer of electric vehicles,” Szijjarto said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Szijjarto’s decision deals another blow to former premier Viktor Orban, who suffered a landslide election loss in April after 16 years of uninterrupted rule. Orban lost his party’s parliamentary caucus leader this week, who resigned abruptly, while another former lawmaker of his Fidesz party said she’d start to build a new political group.
Szijjarto, 47, was the face of the Orban’s “eastern opening” strategy, which prioritised relations with Moscow and Beijing often over those within European Union (EU) and the Nato military alliance.
The Hungarian foreign minister was known as the face of obstructionism in Brussels, where he often sought to water down EU sanctions against Russian or statements critical of China.
See also: Millionaires’ playground Marbella wants to become a tech hub
He nurtured especially close ties with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a pariah in most of Europe since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Recordings leaked in the run-up to the April vote appeared to show the two discussing how Szijjarto could help Lavrov get an associate removed from an EU sanctions list.
Uploaded by Felyx Teoh
