Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has declared his support for the initiative according to which the Republic of Maldives should be afforded visa-free travel into the European Union.

The politician held bilateral talks with the Foreign Minister of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid in New Delhi on Wednesday. The parties commemorated the fact that the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Mr. Szijjártó highlighted the fact that Hungary welcomes the lifting of the sanctions previously imposed on the Maldives by the European Union. In the interests of enabling Hungarian enterprises to exploit this, Eximbank has opened a 30-million-euro credit line for investment projects in the Maldives within the fields of water management, food safety and tourism, he added. The Minister briefed his negotiating partners on the Hungarian government’s energy and climate protection strategy, in view of the fact that the Maldives are particularly endangered by the rise in sea level being cause by climate change, and in closing offered 15 scholarship places for students from the Maldives to attend Hungarian universities.

(MTI)