Ethiopian students are flooding Hungarian universities

Supporting Africa is key to improving the quality of life in countries at the root of illegal migration to Europe, and so to stopping rather than managing illegal migration, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Addis Ababa on Tuesday.

A Hungarian-Ethiopian agreement in the works on economic cooperation and the elimination of double taxation is part of that effort, Szijjártó said. Szijjártó is scheduled to meet his Ethiopian counterpart, Demeke Mekonnen, Trade Minister Gebremeskel Chala and Education Minister Berhanu Nega. The root causes of migration have become stronger in recent years, mirrored in the growing migration pressure in Europe which the European Union’s measures have failed to address, Szijjártó said.

Here are some photos of Mr Szijjártó in the Ethiopian capital:

Since EU policies “inspire one migration wave after the other, cooperation has become a priority with African countries willing and able to keep young citizens home, who are also of key importance for the future of their homeland,” he said. Cooperation between Hungary and Ethiopia aims to help the latter country in retaining its citizens, he said. Hungary will double the number of university scholarships for Ethiopian students next year, to 100, he said.

Hungarian companies are also playing an important role in the development of Ethiopian agriculture, and in digitalisation, he said. Later on Tuesday, a youth counselling centre will be inaugurated, built with a 160 million forint (EUR 429,000) Hungarian grant to the Ethiopian Catholic Church, he said. The centre will provide programmes for disadvantaged youth, he said.