He told journalists after the meetings that the EU should not try to punish Britain but instead create an environment in which member states want to remain because they see the bloc’s value.

Brussels should learn from its mistake of failing to pay attention to the voices of European people, he added. Hungary wants the Brexit talks to be fair and transparent, he said.

Asked about the future prospects of Hungarian citizens living in the UK, Szabó said that in the course of his talks, representatives of business and politicians alike said they could not imagine how Britain would stay functional without workers from central and eastern Europe.

The UK jobless rate is rather low and it is clear that if suddenly there were to be an exodus of workers, the country would be in trouble. British officials understand this, he added.

Szabó said Hungary-UK economic ties were expanding apace and currently there are 800 British companies in Hungary employing 50,000 people. Meanwhile, bilateral trade grew by 15 percent in 2015.

The state secretary said Hungary was not actively encouraging British companies to leave the UK in order to relocate to Hungary, but if they are inclined to move elsewhere then they should know that Hungary would provide an “ideal operating” environment.

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