Hungary is not changing Egypt’s security rating regarding travel advice as long as it is not in possession of information which would call for such a measure, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said at his press conference held jointly with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Saturday in the wake of the airline disaster which occurred a week ago.
“Naturally, we are closely monitoring the events here, and His Excellency the (Egyptian) Foreign Minister reassured us that they have adopted security measures, in consequence of which they are able to guarantee the security of the tourists travelling here”, he said. At the same time, he added: “if we have information which compels us to change our travel advice, we shall naturally consider such information; however, this is not the case at this point in time.”
Mr Szijjártó pointed out that Egypt’s economic and security stability is a common European and Hungarian interest. He stressed: “Egypt has a strategic role also from the respect of the stability of the situation in the Middle-East and in Africa and the successful outcome of the fight against the Islamic State. Therefore, the country’s stability and strength are a common economic and security interest of both Hungary and Europe.”
The ailing economy of the North-African country is greatly dependent on tourism, one of its main destinations is Sharm el-Sheikh situated on the shores of the Red Sea. The Egyptian branch of the Islamic State issued a communiqué a few hours after the crash in which they claimed responsibility for the disaster. The group of experts investigating the circumstances have to date not yet disclosed the cause of the tragedy which befell the aircraft travelling from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. In spite of this, as a precautionary measure, a number of countries cancelled their flights to the popular holiday resort.
Péter Szijjártó further said: Egypt’s stability is also essential for the resolution of the conflicts ongoing in the region which are the most important causes of the migration crisis which is compelling Europe to face an increasingly difficult challenge. In Syria, Iraq and some other countries in the region, the situation is such that hundreds of thousands or even millions of people may set out for Europe within a short time. „Tens of thousands of illegal migrants have been entering the territory of the European Union every day for some time. Within a short time, this will impose an unbearable burden on the EU”, he said.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted that while the plans of the individual Member States of the European Union on a number of details diverge, they all agree that action must be taken against the causes which are responsible for the mass migration. „To this end, we need strategic allies (…), we look upon Egypt as one of the key stabilisation factors, and appreciate the results it has achieved in the region in this department”, he said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed: „regarding the migration crisis, every country must proceed in accordance with the international conventions, naturally, with a view to the observance of human rights, and taking the suffering of the individuals concerned into consideration”. Regarding the Hungarian position on the airline disaster, he said: „I have thanked my Hungarian colleague for his country not having taken measures which would result in negative implications for the Egyptian economy”.
Both Foreign ministers confirmed that one of the reasons for Mr Szijjártó’s visit was to prepare Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s trip to Egypt which will foreseeably take place during the first quarter of 2016.
Talking to the Hungarian News Agency MTI, the Hungarian Minister evaluated it as a great success that “Egypt has become the Hungarian economy’s number one export market not only in the Arab world but in the whole of Africa. Compared with Hungarian exports worth USD 300 million to Egypt last year, we succeeded in achieving an eighteen per cent increase in the first eight months of this year.”
Regarding cooperation, the Hungarian Foreign Minister mentioned four important economic projects: “We had talks about Hungarian involvement in one of the most important procurements in Egyptian railway history: the supply to Egypt of seven hundred Hungarian-made railway carriages.”
Mr Szijjártó additionally mentioned that the exports of Hungarian livestock have broken previous records this year, and that Mol will continue its activities in Egypt. He further made mention of cooperation in the medical and health industry, highlighting Dispomedicor’s major presence on the Egyptian market. “As Egypt also cooperates with Russia in the field of nuclear developments, Hungary will take part in the training of nuclear experts from Egypt”, he added.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
