BUDAPEST, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Hungary wants a fair agreement between the European Union and Britain regarding Brexit, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told journalists here on Thursday.
"The EU should reach the most comprehensive free-trade agreement with Britain," Szijjarto said after meeting with Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis.
"Even though Britain is leaving the EU, we must be able to keep the Brits in the European security and safety system," Szijjarto added.
Addressing objectives of the Hungarian government, Szijjarto said the rights of the Hungarians living in Britain "must be defended, this is something we cannot let go".
He explained that close to 200,000 Hungarians lived in Britain, and each of them was sending home 6,300 euros (6,782 U.S. dollars) on an annual basis.
Britain is the 11th largest trading partner of Hungary, which exported goods worth 3.6 billion euros last year. Britain is the seventh largest investor in Hungary, giving employment to 51,000 people through some 800 British firms, the minister added.
He said that if the other member states of the European Union would not take over the British contributions of the EU's budget, Hungary would lose about 1.4 to 1.5 billion euros from 2019-2020.
Davis is currently visiting EU's member states to brief them about his country's standpoint.
"We respect the Brits' decision, but we also deeply regret it, as it is a big loss for Europe," the Hungarian minister added.
