Hungary is ready to build a mutually beneficial cooperation with Cuba as a country that has an open, export-driven economy and is seeking the possibility of cooperation with any willing country, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after meeting his Cuban counterpart in Budapest on Friday. According to Szijjártó, it has not happened for 41 years that Cuba’s foreign minister visited Budapest.
At a joint press conference with Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Szijjártó noted that the last time a Cuban foreign minister had paid a visit to Hungary was in 1983. He said that despite their geographical distance of almost 9,000 kilometres there were areas of cooperation for the two countries to further explore, according to a ministry statement.
The minister announced that they had signed cooperation agreements including one in science and innovation that allows coordinated developments in the area of health-sciences, for instance in biotechnology and nuclear medicine. It could also contribute to the soonest possible achievement of carbon neutrality and food safety, he said.
Szijjártó with HE Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla. Photo: FB/Szijjártó
He noted that under the cooperation ten Cuban students would continue to receive a state scholarship annually to study at a Hungarian university.
“And an agreement concluded between our foreign affairs institute and Cuba’s research institute for foreign affairs will allow young people specialised in foreign affairs studies to expand their knowledge,” the minister said.
Cuban FM came from BRICS summit
Szijjártó said that since his Cuban colleague arrived in Budapest straight from the BRICS summit in Kazan, he could get information “first hand” about that event.
He noted the upcoming meeting of the European Political Community’s leaders scheduled for early next month in Budapest and expressed hope that once in future the leaders of major western and eastern countries will sit down to the same negotiating table, “enabling that the next decades of the world should be about connectivity and respectful global cooperation rather than about the emergence of blocs”.
The minister said such a development would be highly needed at a time when mankind was facing challenges that affected all people irrespective of their political orientation, sympathies or the geographical location where they live.
“Nobody can hide from war, terrorism or challenges posed by energy and food safety. These are all global problems that need global solutions; and global solutions can only be found if we are capable of building up a respectful global cooperation.”
“Hungary will do its small part in promoting that, since we believe in dialogue, to have a dialogue is a lot better than having none….,” the minister said.
Hungarian foreign minister supports easing embargo on Cuba
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that Hungary also supported the resolution to be submitted for a vote next week in the United Nations General Assembly on easing the US embargo on Cuba.
“And before some busy-bodies file reports claiming that what an anti-West position Hungary has endorsed again, I would like to emphasise that [the resolution’s support] is a uniform position of the European Union,” said Szijjártó, adding that an agreement signed between the EU and Cuba a couple of years ago could not take effect in full in the absence of EU-member Lithuania’s ratification.
“Interestingly, the international liberal mainstream has not labelled Lithuania for being a member that undermines European unity. Whereas, interestingly, labelling comes immediately when Hungary happens to reject a measure in the EU.”
Szijjártó noted that Hungarian-Cuban cooperation looked back on a long past, adding that the two countries will mark the 65th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties next year.
Read also:
- Hungary officials discusses economic cooperation with Cuba
- Croatian defence minister: Hungary wants territories from Croatia, supports Putin with Serbia, Hungarian foreign ministry outraged
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3 Comments
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Fidesz and idiot Szijjarto openly support Donald Trump to become US president again. How on earth in that empty brain of his does Szijjarto reconcile that with the idea of ending the US embargo on Cuba? Moreover note these people support both fascists and communists at the same time but not the democratic dreaded Western world. Fidesz is attracted to odious regimes like flies to shit.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
There is no surprise that Hungary would be visited now by the Cuban foreign minister. Hungary was a Russian ally at the time of the last visit in 1983 and now has resumed being a Russian ally once again thus Cuba and Hungary are both together in the Russian camp as comrades.
Quite what Hungary hopes to achieve by building stronger relations with Cuba is entirely beyond me as it’s verging on becoming a failed state with a very real risk of starvation as things currently stand. Cuba recently had 4 total failures of its power grid is as many days plunging the whole country into darkness and it cannot generate nearly enough electricity to meet domestic demand, routinely leading to power supply for a mere 4 hours a day in some more isolated parts of the country. They’re heavily reliant on 7 floating power stations leased from Turkey, in the process spending hard currency they almost completely lack. The country has become a net importer of sugar, the crop on which Cuban prosperity was originally built! Sugar, for heaven’s sake! Cuba’s sole exports are hand rolled luxury cigars (that they cannot make enough of due to crop failures as the tobacco farmers lack basics necessary to cultivate the land effectively) and a limited array of pharmaceuticals. And now their greatest export are the vast quantities of desperate people fleeing their homeland. The population has declined by 20% since the pandemic. My heart bleeds for the Cuban people, it’s worse now than at any time since 1960.
Zero chance of US sanctions on Cuba easing if Trump returns to the White House. The Cuban expats in Florida cannot wait for the regime to collapse and they generally vote for the GOP.