Hungary to increase contribution to anti-terrorism efforts in Iraq, says foreign minister in Washington, DC

Washington, DC, March 22 (MTI) – Hungary has offered to increase its military presence and extend its mission in Iraq to contribute to international efforts against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation.

The announcement was made by Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, at a conference organised by the US government for foreign ministers of the international coalition, in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

In his address, Szijjártó said that his government would propose that Hungary’s parliament should approve of increasing the number of Hungarian soldiers in the international mission from 150 to 200 and of extending their stay in Iraq by two years, to end-2019.

In an interview to MTI, Szijjártó called the IS “the number one enemy to international peace and stability” and added in general that international terrorism based on religious radicalism was the largest threat to civilisation.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Michael Reynolds

“We are glad that the… US administration has elaborated a new, comprehensive strategy to wipe out terrorism and, at last, they are not saying that terrorism should be combatted but that it should be eliminated for good in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Szijjártó said that Europe’s security challenges could not be handled without eliminating terrorism motivated by religious extremism. “For example, the immigration crisis cannot be managed in the long run without wiping out IS,” he insisted.

Szijjártó noted that Hungary had participated in the international coalition against IS from the beginning, as one of 27 countries that have sent actual troops to fight in Iraq. Hungary decided to join the coalition because IS propaganda directly jeopardises European security, because IS is one of the causes behind the migration crisis and because IS aims to exterminate Christian communities in several regions, Szijjarto added.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Ahmed Dzsalil

Source: MTI