At a joint press conference with his Chadian counterpart, Abderaman Koulamallah, FM Peter Szijjarto said the Chadian president's visit has historic significance, adding that it's the president's first-time visit to Hungary, according to Hungary's state news agency (MTI).
We're talking about two countries that devote special attention to preserving their sovereignty, two countries that take a clear stand for peace. Both countries believe that wars should and must be settled with negotiation, rather than weapons,
– he said.
Two countries whose lives have been very seriously challenged in recent years by military conflicts, two countries that reject any steps or measures in international politics that risks escalating the wars currently taking place,
– Mr. Szijjarto continued. Then, he pointed out that
Europe faced a number of security challenges, with one of the main ones being illegal migration along with the growing threat of terrorism that was closely related to it. He underlined that illegal migration into the European Union could not be stopped without cooperation with the Sahel region.
We are fully aware of the crucial stabilizing role Chad plays in this critical region of Africa, so Hungary - as the country currently holding the EU's rotating presidency - we'll do our part in developing the cooperation between the European Union and the Sahel and in stopping illegal migration. That's why Hungary is building a strategic partnership with Chad,
– FM Szijjarto emphasized, adding that "We have signed the strategic cooperation agreement on this along with the cooperation agreements on defence and animal husbandry." This is a comprehensive partnership that has a defence, economic and education pillar as well," he added.
He said Hungary is prepared to launch a 150-200 million euro tied aid program to support agriculture, the food industry, and the development of water supply, education and digitalisation in the central African country. Also, the Hungary Helps humanitarian scheme is launching a USD 1-million aid program to prevent the spread of infections and improve general healthcare in Chad, he added. FM Szijjarto also emphasized that the Hungarian government has initiated the transfer of a 14-million-euro contribution from the European Peace Facility to support the development of Chad's defence capacities.
The council of EU ambassadors is scheduled to discuss the Hungarian proposal on Sept 26th, and let's hope that they'll accept the proposal,
– Mr. Szijjarto stated.
He said that under their defence cooperation pact, Hungary and Chad will work to ensure that their exchanges of knowledge and experiences can contribute to the success of the fight against terrorism.
The threat posed by international terrorism is growing, (...) gravely increasingly the threat of illegal migration, so in order to curb these two very dangerous phenomena, we are also building the defence pillar of our cooperation, together,
– he explained.
Eventually, FM Szijjarto also mentioned that Hungary will offer university scholarships to 25 Chadian students each year, something he described as important in terms of developing inter-personal ties.
And, in order to make our personal presence as effective as possible, we have decided to upgrade our diplomatic representation in N'djamena to an embassy (...) This will help us develop the economic, educational and military cooperation pillars of our strategic partnership as effectively as possible,
– Hungary's foreign minister stated.
Cover photo: FM Peter Szijjarto of Hungary, and FM Abderrahman Kulamallah of Chad (Source: Facebook)
