Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held bilateral talks with his Iraqi, Turkish, Malaysian, Slovenian, Saudi Arabian and Australian counterparts in Kuwait on Tuesday.

The Minister, who is in Kuwait attending a meeting of foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, met with his Iraqi counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting.

In a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Szijjártó said they had agreed that Iraq will be issuing visas to the members of the new Hungarian contingents which will soon be travelling to Iraq to replace the military personnel currently serving there. Hungary has increased the size of its military contingent from 150 to 200, and the new troops will be occupying their stations at the end of February, he said.

The Minister also said they had agreed that the Government will be undertaking to provide medical treatment in Hungary for 20 Iraqi soldiers who have been injured in fighting against the Islamic State, in addition to which they also agreed that, similarly to last year, Hungarian military personnel will again be training members of the Iraqi forces with relation to bomb disposal techniques.

The parties also concluded their negotiations with relation to an economic cooperation agreement, meaning the document may soon be signed, he added.

Mr. Szijjártó said he had assured the Turkish Foreign Minister that as a committed supporter of the global fight against terrorism, Hungary will always show solidarity with Turkey with relation to antiterrorism efforts.

Economic cooperation between Hungary and Turkey increased last year, exceeding three billion dollars, he pointed out.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister also told the press that during his negotiations with his Malaysian counterpart the text of the economic cooperation agreement between the two countries had been finalised, meaning that too will also be signed soon. They also agreed on an education exchange programme within the framework of which the Government will be providing 40 scholarship place for Malaysian students to study at Hungarian universities. The parties also finalised the text of their upcoming agricultural cooperation agreement, he added.

Malaysia is one of Hungary’s most important trade partners in the region, and bilateral trade flow increased by 31 percent last year, he said.

Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that he and the Slovenian Foreign Minister had reviewed the issue of cross-border infrastructure, as a result of which the cross-border highway between Lendava and Lendva-Hosszúfalu could be put into commission during the course of 2018, meaning that yet another border crossing point will be established between the two countries.

The parties also discussed the interconnection of the two countries’ gas networks, and with relation to the linking of their electricity networks an agreement was reached with on the fact that Slovenia will also be completing the required infrastructure on its side of the border, which Hungary has already completed, by 2019, which will enable the linking of the two countries’ electricity networks and lead to a significantly more secure electricity supply, he said.

The Foreign Minister said he had also held talks with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, with whom he discussed the current state of the Middle East peace process and the various conflicts in the Persian Gulf region. He confirmed that the region’s stability is strategically important to Hungary, because “whatever happens in the region has an almost immediate effect on European security”.

Mr. Szijjártó noted that he had also spoken with his Australian counterpart, who will be arriving in Hungary for an official visit on 22 February and will be holding talks with the foreign ministers of the Visegrád Group (V4) countries.

(MTI)