Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi visits Hungary
The war in Ukraine has impacts not only on Europe but also on Africa, so both continents have an interest in achieving peace as soon as possible, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Tuesday.
Szijjártó met Musalia Mudavadi, his Kenyan counterpart, in Budapest, according to a statement from the foreign ministry, which cited Szijjártó as saying that armed conflicts, the threat of terrorism, and the waves of migration were serious global challenges.
“We have all suffered long enough from a war we have nothing to do with. So we’ve had enough of European politicians bent on pursuing war, trying to thwart peace efforts and surreptitiously undermining peace talks,” Szijjártó said. “Peace is in the shared interest of the people of Europe and Africa, so we have an interest in the success of Donald Trump’s peace efforts and the recent US-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia yielding results, so that international politics can return to the basis of common sense,” Szijjártó said.
“Kenya is also on the side of peace,” he said, adding that it played a “crucial stabilising role in settling conflicts in the region, contributing to improving the security situation in Africa and Europe.”
Regarding terrorism, Szijjártó said that nearly 20,000 people were killed by radical organisations in Africa last year, and called for increased efforts to fight terrorism, which he called one of the primary causes of illegal migration.
Africa‘s population could increase by 950 million by 2050, and “unless we rein in terrorism, it will involve the largest-ever wave of migration to hit Europe,” he said, adding that “seeing the state Europe’s in now, the continent will hardly be able to tackle it.”
Pointing to the causes of migration, Szijjártó called for joint efforts to address economic, health, and education problems “so that people aren’t forced to leave their homeland but contribute their skills to the welfare of their country”. Szijjártó said the Hungarian government has completed 18 humanitarian and development programmes in Kenya, worth a combined 650 million forints. The projects involved education, health, welfare, and agricultural developments, “especially when it comes to water supply and hygienic infrastructure of poor areas.”
At their talks, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation. Szijjártó said agricultural projects by Hungarian companies worth 6 billion forints are already underway in Kenya.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that 521 Kenyan students are currently studying at Hungarian universities.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi stressed in her speech that the country would like to open a diplomatic mission in Budapest in the near future. He said they were grateful for the MoUs signed in education and agriculture. She added that more than 500 Kenyan students are allowed to study in Hungary yearly, which means a lot to the African country.
Hungary has strong technology and knowledge in agriculture, which is vital for Kenya, and I would like to strengthen this cooperation, Mudavadi said.
As we wrote a few weeks ago, Hungary opens new diplomatic mission in African country, details HERE.