Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan concluded a security cooperation agreement in Abu Dhabi on Monday, in the spirit of the fight against terrorism.

In a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Szijjártó said that according to the agreement, in future Hungary and the United Arab Emirates will coordinate efforts in the fight against terrorism and inform each other of their actions.

The Minister explained that the United Arab Emirates plays an extremely important role in the stability of the Middle East, in view of the fact that many terrorist organisations are trying to establish a foothold on its territory, and if they succeed it could mean a major danger to Europe’s security in view of the country’s geographical position.

Mr. Szijjártó said the role played by the Arab country in the fight against terrorist organisations is of key importance, including against both Al Qaida and the Islamic State. He pointed out that Hungary is also committed to the fight against terrorism, in the spirit of which some two hundred Hungarian soldiers are fighting against the Islamic State in Iraq, and it is also in this spirit that Hungary is taking part in several NATO missions.

The Minister said that the diplomatic academy of the United Arab Emirates and the Hungarian Institute for Foreign Affairs had concluded a cooperation agreement, within the framework of which the two institutions will be mutually accepting young diplomats to enable them to gain practical experience.

Bilateral economic cooperation is characterised by unexploited opportunities, Mr. Szijjártó said, with only 210 million dollars in bilateral trade flow, although there are many opportunities available for Hungarian enterprises within the fields of water and food management, and the machine industry. Accordingly, Hungary has opened an 840-million-dollar credit line at Eximbank to facilitate bilateral economic cooperation.

Mr. Szijjártó arrived in Abu Dhabi from Dubai, where he took part in a session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Future Councils.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)