On 3 November 2016, Assistant Minister on European Affairs Amal Jadou from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry was on an official visit to Hungary at the invitation of Deputy State Secretary for Opening to the South Szilveszter Bus. The talks were conducted within the framework of the inter-ministerial political consultation agreement concluded in November 2015.

During the meeting, Mr. Bus stressed that with regard to the Middle East peace process Hungary’s stance remains clearly in favour of a two-state solution, which can only be achieved via direct negotiations between the parties. “We are of course aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of the peace process and accordingly we are supporting all mediation efforts that, in addition to the essential efforts of the affected parties, could contribute to moving the process out of its current state of deadlock”, he stated.

The Deputy State Secretary said that Hungary was a traditional supporter of the Palestinian people and Palestinian state-building efforts, but at the same time we also maintain close, balanced and up-to-date relations with Israel. We have realised more than thirty development programmes with relation to Palestine during the past ten years, one of the most important being the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship programme, within the framework of which 50 Palestinian students are able to attend Hungarian universities every year. In addition, during the course of 2016 we contributed to improving amenities at a hospital and to the training of Palestinian security forces. Hungary is constituently striving to help Christian communities in the region remain in place and thrive, and it is with relation to this that the Government decided to provide 100 thousand euros in funding towards the renovation of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Assistant Minister thanked Hungary for its continuous support and active contact-development activities, adding that he was glad that there were no open issues or disputes in bilateral relations between the two countries. Both parties agreed that the further development of relations could best be served by concentrating on economic cooperation, as also proven by the success of the last Hungarian-Palestinian Business Forum held in Budapest.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)