In an interview given to Hungarian journalists, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said that the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states reached the view during their discussion in Brussels on Monday that it is of strategic importance that the European Union shall cooperate with Africa both on a political and an economic level.

The Minister said that the Hungarian government's decision on the "Opening to the South" policy was a correct one, which is also justified by the fact that the European Union considers taking a leading role in Africa to be an issue of strategic importance.

Mr Szijjártó announced that in order to put Hungarian investors and suppliers in a better position, the Hungarian Eximbank will contribute EUR 3 million to the EU-Africa Fund of EUR 800 million, established by the European Commission and nine EU member states in 2007. In addition to this, Hungary will also join the fund of the World Bank that invests money into African commercial banks.

The Minister drew the attention to the fact that there is huge global competition in the field of economic cooperation with Africa; China and the Gulf states are also making significant efforts to establish their presence on the continent. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was of the opinion that as opposed to the period preceding the "Opening to the East", Hungary has joined this global competition on time and "is not running after the world".

"We managed to avoid the mistake that was formerly characteristic for the period preceding the "Opening to the East", when we had not joined the Eastern aspect of the global economic competition, due to which we had to mobilise much more strength and energy to be successful then", the Minister explained.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade recalled that the African continent has grown at an average rate of 5 per cent per year since 2001 and Africa’s population could double by 2050.

Mr Szijjártó said that Hungary is planning to open embassies in three locations, in Ghana, Angola and Ethiopia, and trading houses in Ethiopia, Angola and Kenya.

At the discussion of the Foreign Ministers, the situation in Libya was also on the agenda. In Mr Szijjártó’s opinion, this situation poses a challenge for Europe’s security and the stability of the region, since the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist organisations have established their presence in the country that they now use as a base to expand. He informed that given the necessary circumstances, the Hungarian government could support an EU mission going to Libya, in order to contribute to the stability of the country and to supervise the ceasefire and border control. According to Mr Szijjártó, the ministers were in agreement that the Libyan crisis can only be resolved politically, and that the establishment of a national unity government is needed.

The Minister said that recently Hungary, as the last one among the EU member states, had to evacuate its embassy in Tripoli. However, the Minister also said that the Ambassador also provides assistance from the Tunisian border with the help of his existing contacts in order to free the kidnapped citizens of Austria and the Czech Republic.

The Minister also noted that within the framework of the international military action against IS, Hungary is still committed to sending 150 soldiers fulfilling security tasks in Erbil in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq.

In relation to the issue of migration that was also on the agenda, Mr Szijjártó pointed out that while in 2012 2,157 people applied for asylum in Hungary, this number has increased by almost twentyfold, to 42,777 by 2014, and the number of asylum seekers has already reached half of the total number of applicants of last year by the beginning of this March. "The pressure on Hungary is unprecedented", the Minister claimed, explaining that in this respect, Hungary is second in the EU in per capita terms and compared to the size of its economy.

"The European Union must find the means to prevent the obvious phenomenon of the abuse of refugee law", Mr Szijjártó emphasised at the press conference, noting that under current regulations asylum seekers can stay in the given country and thus can also move freely within the Schengen area during the procedure.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)