“Since Tunisia has the most stable political system in the region, it is the fundamental interests of the EU and Hungary for Tunisia’s political and economic stability to be maintained”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest following a meeting with his Tunisian counterpart.
“If Tunisia’s stability were to face a major challenge in future the migration pressure on Europe would increase dramatically, and accordingly Hungary will remain one of the greatest proponents of tighter cooperation between the European Union and Tunisia”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.
“One of the reasons we regard Tunisia as especially important is that the EU is facing major, historic challenges and some of these challenges are derived from the EU’s southern and south-eastern vicinity, the events that are occurring there are one of the major causes of the immigration crisis”, he explained. “For this reason it is important to the EU how events develop in its immediate neighbourhood in future”, he pointed out.
Mr. Szijjártó reminded the press that not long ago Hungary had not changed Tunisia’s security classification despite acts of terrorism because it was fully aware how important a role tourism plays in Tunisia’s economy, and as a result in its stability. “A charter flight still flies to Tunisia every week and Hungarian tourists are reporting on their favourable experiences, including with regard to government measures aimed at improving the security situation”, he said.
The Foreign Minister also mentioned cooperation between Hungary’s Counter Terrorism Centre and its Tunisian partner organisation and preparations for the conclusion of a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ Interior Ministries. “Border protection also poses a challenge to Tunisia because of its shared border with Libya, and accordingly cooperation on border protection technologies is also a very important area of cooperation between the two countries”, he explained.
With regard to economic cooperation, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted the importance of water management and agriculture, reported on an increase in bilateral trade flow and announced that Hungary’s Eximbank has opened a 67 million U.S. Dollar credit line to facilitate bilateral economic cooperation. “In view of the high demand we have increased the number of scholarship places available for Tunisian students to attend Hungarian universities from 100 to 150”, he added.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister also spoke about the fact that Hungary is supporting the involvement of financial instruments on the part of the EU to assure Tunisia’s financial support until 2020, as well as the closing of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and Tunisia and the earliest possible realisation of the treaty.
“1956 is not just the year of the Hungarian Revolution and fight for freedom, but also the year of Tunisia’s independence, and this is when the two countries established diplomatic relations”, Mr. Szijjártó noted.
Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui stressed: There are several possible fields of cooperation between the two countries and Tunisia would like to make use of the experience that Hungary has accumulated during the past 26 years. It is important to give new impetus to bilateral relations and accordingly the Tunisian Prime Minister will hopefully also visit Budapest shortly, he added.
Mr. Jhinaoui expressed his thanks for the fact that Hungary had not modified its advice to tourists visiting the country. “Today, Tunisia is stronger and is working to prevent acts of terrorism”, he declared, highlighting the fact that “Tunisia is as safe as any other country in the world and has taken all of the necessary steps to assure security”.
Prior to the press conference, the parties signed a working plan on science cooperation, a framework agreement on cooperation within the field of sport and a memorandum of understanding on tourism.
In reply to a question, Mr. Szijjártó said that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would be visiting London next week and would be meeting the British Prime Minister. “It is natural that the future commencement of negotiations on Britain’s exit of the European Union are the greatest ‘source of excitement’ currently, and based on previous statements London is expected to officially announce its intention to exit in March”, he told reporters.
The Foreign Minster confirmed that Hungary has an interest in an agreement that aims to realise mutual advantages and which is favourable to both Great Britain and the European Union. “Hungary insists on protecting the rights of Hungarians working in the United Kingdom and on achieving the freest and most flexible possible investment, trade and economic cooperation”, he said.