Hungarian Foreign Minister addresses Middle East escalation, Africa strategy, and Christian community in NY

The international community must prevent a further escalation in the crisis in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in New York on Tuesday, warning of the “serious impact” that an even deeper crisis would have on global security.

Middle East

Commenting on recent “unsettling reports” from the Middle East, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement, that like the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East was moving ever closer to escalation and an expansion of the crisis, “which could also severely undermine global security”.

“The involvement of Lebanon in the conflict, I believe, has significance beyond itself because if one more country becomes involved in the conflict, it will not stop at the country’s borders,” he warned.

“I think the Lebanese people bear no blame for the crisis that has developed, and I really hope that the Lebanese people won’t have to suffer because of it,” he said.

He pointed to the Hungarian government’s close ties with Lebanon’s Christian community, saying they were in constant contact and Hungary would provide them with any help they may need.

“The Hungarian government has carried out roughly 5 billion forints’ worth of development, support, and humanitarian programs in Lebanon in recent years, which were used to build churches and support the operations of schools and monasteries,” he noted.

Szijjártó also expressed hope that “everyone will have the sound judgment in the coming days” needed to prevent a further escalation of the Middle East crisis and “the suffering of further millions.”

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said he is scheduled to meet his Lebanese counterpart on Wednesday, and the Middle East crisis will be one of the topics on the agenda.

Africa strategy

Concerning his bilateral talks scheduled for Tuesday, the minister said he will discuss security matters, including migration pressure, with some of his African and Asian counterparts.

“I think it’s clear to everyone by now that if Europe is unable to draft a comprehensive Africa strategy, it won’t be able to escape a degree of migration pressure that is incomparably greater than what it is experiencing now,” he said.

Szijjártó said Africa’s population is projected to grow by around 750 million over the next two decades, “and these people will have to be given jobs, education, and health care.”

“If we can’t make that happen, we could be faced with the biggest humanitarian disaster in history or the greatest level of migration pressure Europe has ever seen,” he warned.

“It would be good to avoid both, so we’ll be speaking about cooperation on migration and development with the leaders of the African states,” he added.

Honduras

On another subject, Szijjártó said Honduras is joining Hungary’s scholarship programme, with the country set to offer Honduran students the opportunity to study at Hungarian universities. He also welcomed Cuba’s interest in Hungarian water management technologies.

Szijjártó said he would also meet the foreign ministers of Asian countries and that Hungary and Cambodia agreed to open embassies in each other’s countries. The minister said he is set to sign a cooperation agreement on diplomacy training with Uzbekistan and that he will discuss the situation in the Middle East with the top diplomat of the United Arab Emirates.

As we wrote today, Wizz Air and other airlines cancel flights to Israel amid escalating conflict with Hezbollah

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