Lázár voiced disagreement with a recent proposal by national business association MGYOSZ to bring in foreign workers from outside of the EU to ease labour shortages in certain sectors.

He said once the economy achieves full employment, the government can offer work to Hungarians living beyond the border.

He revealed that Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern will pay a visit to Budapest on July 26 upon invitation of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The aim of the visit is to begin “a new chapter” in Hungarian-Austrian relations, he said. Migration will be one of the topics covered at the meeting and the two countries will also use the visit to strengthen their economic ties.

Lázár added that he would travel to Vienna on Monday to make official arrangements for the chancellor’s visit. He also announced that the government has launched a questionnaire on simplifying public administration services and reducing administrative fees.

Citizens have until August 19 to tell the government what sort of administrative procedures they think need to be made simpler and which service fees should be reduced or scrapped. Lázár said the aim of the campaign is to further reduce red tape in public administration.

On another subject, he said the European Commission had recommended that Budapest should take out a loan to finance the upgrade of the city’s third metro line, saying this would be a viable way to fund the project.

Lázár was asked to comment on a recent report by the daily Népszabadság which said the capital would be forced to take out a 139 billion forint (EUR 442.7m) loan because Brussels had suggested that it would not provide financial support for the project.

He said Budapest could take out a loan if the EC chooses not to finance the project, adding that the state is willing to provide the capital a guarantee on the loan.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Illyés Tibor