Szijjártó logs 250,000 kilometers of travel in 18 months
Foreign Trade State Secretary Péter Szijjártó has travelled to 28 countries on 34 trips since his appointment in June of last year, tabloid Blikk reported on the weekend. According to official statistics, the state secretary travelled some 250,000 kilometers to 33 cities at a cost of HUF 33 million. Szijjártó has spent 76 days (or just about one day per week on average) outside of Hungary in the 18 months since his appointment.
Formerly a spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Szijjártó was promoted to the Foreign Trade Ministry in June 2012. Prior to the 2008 national elections, he was the parliamentary group spokesman for then-opposition party Fidesz.
Szijjártó’s itinerary included, among others, official visits to Argentina, Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Georgia, India, Israel, Kuwait, Montenegro, Nigeria, Qatar, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
Hungarian exports to these countries rose markedly after Szijjártó’s visits, the ministry claimed, stating that exports to Nigeria jumped 49%, to Vietnam a “sharp” 44% and to Montenegro a like 44%.
The ‘paper further rather ostentatiously and seemingly without irony pointed out that “Szijjártó’s per diem allowance is net €36, the same as everybody else who travels for the government, from the prime minister to a delegation assistant.”
-- material from MTI was used in this article
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