Hungary has no proof that devices built by Chinese telecoms giant Huawei pose a security threat, Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo Palkovics has stated, adding that Budapest is thinking about incentives to speed up the rollout of its high-speed 5G network.
"We have taken a rather pragmatic stance, the same, in fact, as Germany. It has not been proven that Huawei's technology would pose any risk to Hungary, as we have seen no (data) to support that. Until it is proven that Huawei, or Cisco or any other technology poses any threat to our community, that is Hungary, NATO or the European Union, we will handle Huawei's technology as any other technology", Palkovics said.
The minister also stated that the government was planning negotiations with telecoms companies to find ways to facilitate a faster 5G rollout.
"I am positive, that if it were to become obvious that (there is a security risk), Hungary is a member of NATO, which entails a spate of commitments, which we will follow, but so far, there has been no information to support that", he said commenting on possibility of the security threats.
The statement comes amid the US' rising concerns about the expansion of Huawei, the world's largest maker of telecoms equipment, in Hungary and Poland.
In mid-May, the United States blacklisted Huawei and dozens of its affiliates from trading with and exporting to the United States. As a result, Google had to partially suspend business operations with Huawei, specifically transfers of its hardware, software and technical services, except those publicly available via open source licensing, to the company. A number of Japanese and UK phone companies also suspended launches of Huawei's new products.
The US move followed months of allegations that Huawei allegedly cooperated with the Chinese government, sharing intelligence with it. Though the telecommunications company has vehemently denied the claims, the United States and several other countries banned it from public procurement.
