“Hungary has come to an agreement with Kenya on the launching of a 50-million-dollar tied aid loan programme”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday following talks with Kenyan Foreign Minister Monica Juma.

The Minister told reporters that Hungarian enterprises will be building two hospitals in Kenya at a cost of 35 million dollars, will be realising 10 million dollars in food industry development projects, and 5 million dollars’ worth of projects aimed at modernising irrigation systems. Mr. Szijjártó said that in his opinion the challenges facing the European Union have a major security aspect. “Migration pressure in the south and southeast is continuously increasing, as a result of which a continuously increasing threat of terrorism is also to be expected”, he added.

“Some 100 thousand illegal immigrants have accumulated in the Western Balkans, and in Turkey there have already been 400 thousand attempts to illegally cross the border this year. In such a situation, the significance of subcontinental cooperation gains in importance. It is of key importance to cooperate with African countries that are partners in handling the root causes of migration and in the harmonisation of the fight against terrorism, and also to enable them to increase the population retention capacity of states in such a manner that they can keep up with the increase in their populations”, the Hungarian Minister emphasised. He added that Kenya is one such country, and accordingly bilateral cooperation is greatly appreciated. “We are placing major emphasis on economic and education cooperation in the interests of reducing emigration from Kenya, and to reinforce the country’s regional stabilising role”, Mr. Szijjártó declared. He told the press that Hungary is providing 100 scholarship places-a-year to enable Kenyan students to attend Hungarian universities. “We are also harmonising and developing diplomatic training courses”, he said, explaining that Hungary and Slovenia are jointly sending 33 million forints’ (EUR 100,000) worth of medical equipment to Kenyan hospitals.

He also informed the press that since the government regards Kenya as an important stabilising country, it is supporting its bid for membership of the UN Security Council for the period 2021-2022. “We are also providing assistance towards the establishment of an East African regional counter-terrorism centre”, the Minister said. “The UN is preparing to outsource its global service functions from New York. The four candidate cities include the capitals of Hungary and Kenya, Budapest and Nairobi, and accordingly supporting the idea is a common aspiration”, Mr. Szijjártó indicated.

Monica Juma told reporters that Hungarian President of the Republic János Áder will be visiting Kenya in January, and the meeting was primarily held to prepare for the visit. “We are very much awaiting the visit by the President”, she said. The Kenyan Foreign Minister highlighted that Kenya’s prospective membership of the UN Security Council is about the world’s stability. “We are weeding out terrorism and terrorist ideologies”, she said. Ms. Juma drew attention to the fact that the problem in Kenya is precisely the opposite of what is being experienced in Europe: there are more and more young people. She said that in her opinion: “These mutually supplementary characteristics should be exploited in the interests of efficiency”. Monica Juma expressed her hope that Kenya will soon be opening a diplomatic representation in Budapest. “We are glad that increasing numbers of young Kenyans are coming to Budapest to study”, the Kenyan Foreign Minister said. The two ministers signed an agreement on cooperation between Hungary’s National University of Public Service and Kenya’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies.

(MTI)