Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó had a telephone conversation with Lebanese Foreign Minister Charbel Vahba on Wednesday with relation to the Beirut explosion.

In a Facebook post, Mr. Szijjártó wrote: “My colleague was noticeably pleased by the phone call, and thanked the Hungarians for their support and solidarity on several occasions”. He pointed out that his Lebanese counterpart was only recently appointed, and this was the first time they had spoken, although “it would have been good to have a different reason for doing so”. “However, Lebanon has found itself in an extremely difficult situation because of the huge explosions in Beirut on Tuesday”, he added.

The Hungarian Minister expressed his condolences with relation to the over 100 victims of the explosion, and wished the some six hundred injured a speedy recovery. He indicated that the Hungarian government is sending 1 million euros in emergency aid to the Maronite Catholic Church so they can help families in need. The two ministers agreed that they will speak again once the requirements that arise during the reconstruction become clear, so they can discuss further assistance, wrote Mr. Szijjártó, who ended his post with the words: “Stay strong, Lebanon!”.

Two explosions shook the capital of Lebanon on Tuesday evening, and on Wednesday the Lebanese government declared a two-week state of emergency. According to a report by Al-Manar television, on Wednesday afternoon Health Minister Hamad Hassan stated that 135 people had died in the disaster, thousands were injured, and dozens are still registered as missing. The Lebanese government stated that it has placed an unknown number of port officials under house arrest until the investigation into how the 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port for years could have exploded.

(MTI/Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)