“In the interests of its own defence, Hungary is not just talking about the fact that Europe must help North African countries to preserve their stability and border security, in the fight against terrorism, to improve the standard of living of their citizens to avoid mass emigration, but is doing so”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared in a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI from Tunis.
“Hungary believes North Africa plays an extremely important tole with relation to European security, because of the North African countries become unstable, or are unable to protect their borders for some reason, then migration from Africa towards Europe will be able to cross them freely, and this is not in Hungary’s interests”, he added.
“We saw that when Libya became unstable and was unable to protect its borders, then it to all intents and purposes operated as a green corridor for migration. Accordingly, we maintain that Europe, since it is in its interests, must provide assistance to the countries of North Africa to preserve their stability and border security, in the fight against terrorism, to improve the standard of living of their citizens to avoid mass emigration”, the Minister declared.
On Wednesday morning in the Tunisian capital, Mr. Szijjártó held talks with Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui. “The parties agreed that the Hungarian police force will be providing training to Tunisian border defence forces within the fields of crisis management, border and airport security and risk assessment, as well as with relation to action against international crime. In addition, the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) will be providing training to special intervention forces on duty at Tunisia’s border crossing stations. The parties also agreed that the Hungarian Defence Force will be providing training to soldiers of the Tunisian Army with relation to preventing bomb attacks and defusing explosive devices”, he told the press.
The two foreign ministers also agreed that Hungary will be providing Tunisia with a piece of water purification equipment that is capable of producing some 20 thousand litres of drinking water-a-day from groundwater. An agreement was concluded on increasing the number of Tunisian students attending universities in Hungary within the Government’s scholarship system from 110 to 200. A session of the Hungarian-Tunisian Joint Economic Committee has been scheduled for April, and a Tunisian airline is expected to launch a direct air passenger route between Tunis and Budapest this year.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was also received for a courtesy visit by the Tunisian President. Mr. Szijjártó’s afternoon schedule includes a meeting with Minister for Industry and SMEs Slim Feriani, at which an energy cooperation agreement between the two countries will be concluded.
(MTI/Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
