Diplomatic and economic issues were on the agenda at bilateral talks held by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Tuesday, who is in New York attending the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Minister took part in nine bilateral meetings, four of which were negotiations with foreign ministers from African countries in the interests of expanding economic relations with the continent.
“There is agreement on the fact that Africa is the future, and it is in Hungary’s interests to exploit the opportunities that are inherent in African development”, Mr. Szijjártó told Hungarian news agency MTI. He informed the press that he had met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs Khemaies Jhinaoui, his Sudanese counterpart Ibrahim Ahmed Abd al-Aziz Ghandour and chief diplomat of the Cape Verde Juis Filipe Tavares, and that he had come to an agreement with all four Ministers that their countries would be supporting Hungary’s nomination for membership of the UN Human Rights Council. The elections will be held in October.
“Since Hungary can be most successful if it conducts its business within the framework of the European Union, we are calling for the development of the EU-Algeria Association Council and the strategic partnership between the EU and Tunisia, as well as the drawing up of EU funding for Sudan”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.
Hungary’s chief diplomat concluded an agreement on consultation between their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs with Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raúl Morales Moscoso, in addition to which Hungary agreed to provide scholarships for students from Guatemala to attend Hungarian universities. “Hungary is calling for the further development of cooperation between the European Union and the countries of the Latin American region”, Mr. Szijjártó told the press, adding that “Guatemala will also be supporting our bid for membership of the UN Human Rights Council”.
During his meeting with Foreign Minister of Kosovo Enver Hoxhaj, Mr. Szijjártó assured his negotiating partner that Hungary remains committed to the European integration of the Western Balkans and is supporting the affording to visa-free travel to Kosovan citizens.
During his negotiations with Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay, Mr. Szijjártó and his Philippines counterpart had confirmed their agreement on economic cooperation, which the parties are due to sign in January when Hungary opens its Embassy in Manila, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the press. “Trade flow between Hungary and the Philippines exceeds 200 million dollars, and so we are calling for the European Union to sign a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian country”, he added.
During his round of bilateral talks on Tuesday, Mr. Szijjártó also met with U.S. Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland.
The Foreign Minister and Mr. Thorbjørn discussed the refugee crisis, with relation to which Mr. Szijjártó told the Norwegian politician, amongst others, that: “Nobody can take away the Hungarian people’s democratic right to decide for themselves on the most important issues concerning the country’s future”.
During his meeting with Mr. Hochstein, the Hungarian Foreign Minister asked that the United States assist the realisation of Central European energy security, primarily by calling for the establishment of investment projects that enable that security, such as the Hungarian-Croatian and Hungarian-Romanian natural gas interconnectors.