“Some 31 million face masks, 133 thousand test kits and 152 respirators have arrived in Hungary to date”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in his report to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee with relation to the coronavirus epidemic on Tuesday.

“In the current phase of the epidemic, healthcare protection is the most important, and success requires equipment, which is arriving exclusively from China”, he declared. “China is capable of mass production, but demand is much higher than supply. Scenes that are reminiscent of a western movie are occurring around the world, with goods destined for a certain location arriving somewhere totally different”, he stated.

“Hungary has ordered 116 million face masks, of which some 31 million have arrived to date, and the arrival of a further 8 million is expected during this week. We have ordered 14,490 respirators, of which 152 have arrived, 3.3 million test kits, of which 133,200 have arrived so far, and 47.753 pieces of protective clothing, of which 27 million have arrived. 137,400 isolation jackets have arrived until Tuesday afternoon, and the arrival of 100 respirators, 200 patient monitors and 135 thousand test kits are also expected today. 400 thousand tablets arrived from China over the weekend, the active agent of which could be effective in the treatment of the coronavirus infection, according to researchers. During the remainder of the week a further 8 million face masks are expected to arrive via the Chinese-Hungarian airlift”, the Minister told the Committee. “The Chinese production line that will begin operation within the next few days and is capable of producing 2.8 million masks-a-month is already being installed in Sátoraljaújhely”, he added. The Minister said all of Western Europe and the United States are all standing in line to acquire respirators from China.

“In this emergency situation, it is national solutions that work; international organisations are still searching for their place”, Mr. Szijjártó noted, referring to the European Union. “Following the pandemic, nothing will be like it was until now. The epidemic began earlier in China and will probably also come to an end sooner, meaning life will get back onto its usual track more rapidly there, and the geopolitical world order and the distribution of power could become rearranged to an ever greater extent than it has been so far. The pandemic and the search for a way out following it goes hand in hand with searching for new opportunities; this is the beginning of a new competition. How successfully countries succeed in ‘coming back to speed’ following the crisis could determine their future for decades to come”, he emphasised.

The Minister said the government is cooperating with the Municipality of Budapest and with district local governments, for whom 165 thousand masks have also arrived, the majority of which they have already received. “It is important to help neighbouring countries, because if they become weakened then they will not be able to withstand the increasing migration pressure along the Western Balkan migration route, and that in turn could lead to a greater health risk”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

“The largest repatriation operation in the history of Hungary is underway”, the Minister said. “Until Tuesday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has helped 7995 Hungarian citizens return home from 166 countries, and the return of a further 928 is currently being organised. The number of Hungarians worldwide who are requesting assistance from the Hungarian state to return home is continuously increasing”, the Minister said. “The EU has succeeded in helping 200 Hungarians to return home so far, which is 2.5 percent of the total number who have received assistance to return home. This ratio indicates to what extent national coordination and coordination by Brussels are effective”, he noted.

With relation to borders that have been closed because of the global pandemic, Mr. Szijjártó said: “The general rule is that only Hungarian citizens can enter Hungary via the Hungarian border, but the geopolitical significance of the country is indicated by the fact that a dozen countries have requested personal and freight transport transit opportunities. 12 thousand heavy goods vehicles are entering the country every day, 6400 of which are transit traffic. The citizens of a host of Central European countries have been able to return home from Western Europe via Hungary. Maintaining cross-border economic cooperation is also important, and in the interests of people who commute to work across the border Hungary has come to an agreement with neighbouring states. There are ten border crossing points open between Hungary and Slovakia; there were 6 in the direction of Romania, but in response to a joint request by the Romanian Foreign Ministry and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania another 3 have been opened; there were 3 open towards Slovenia, in addition to which we have since opened another 2. There are 7 border crossing points operating along the Hungarian-Croatian border, and 8 out of the 30 border crossing points with Austria are currently operating. Ukraine and Serbia have closed their borders even to their own citizens, but there are 3 border crossing points open to freight traffic along the Hungarian-Serbian border, and Hungary has asked for a further 2 to be reopened. The border crossing point at Záhony is open to freight traffic to and from Ukraine, and Hungary has requested that an opportunity is also afforded to public traffic”, he listed.

On the subject of the Economy Protection Action Plan, Mr. Szijjártó said that one of the important goals is to protect jobs. “In the interests of this, the government will being funding part-time employment, and in addition to the state undertaking to pay 70 percent of wage expenditure, Eximbank has opened a 400-billion-forint (EUR 1.1 billion) investment project credit line for small and medium-sized enterprises. Eximbank is also launching a 50-billion-forint (EUR 137 million) guarantee program linked to business loans. In view of the fact that payment deadlines are becoming increasingly extended as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a 150-billion-forint (EUR 411 million) insurance program is also being launched to help SMEs bridge this problem. In the interests of creating new jobs, the government is also developing new forms of investment promotion”, he indicated.

In reply to a question from one of the Committee’s MPs, the Hungarian Foreign Minister emphasised that the government is prepared to assist cross-border Hungarians, with relation to which consultations are underway with their organisations, because “national policy must not be pushed to the background even during an epidemic”. In response to a question, he also said that a Hungarian diplomat working at one of the country’s foreign representations has tested positive for the coronavirus. In reply to a question from an MP, Mr. Szijjártó noted that he finds it “difficult to understand the fact that in the current situation certain Western governments still have the energy for debates concerning the rule of law”.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)