Minister shared when the Hungarian port in Italy will be ready for use

Hungary has signed a 45 million euro agreement clearing the way for the start of development work on a port the country is establishing in Trieste, with a view to making it operational by 2026, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Rome on Wednesday.

Hungary purchased the plot to give Hungarian businesses quicker and easier access to sea ports, the foreign ministry cited Péter Szijjártó as saying after talks with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. Hungary presented its development plan to establish a port capable of handling 2.5 million tonnes of goods a year, Szijjártó said.

Hungary aims to make Trieste one of central Europe’s most important ports through the joint development programme, the minister added. Szijjártó praised Salvini, saying that “Europe still has politicians in leadership positions who are sober-minded when it comes to migration”. He said Salvini knew what it was like “when someone puts the protection of their country’s and Europe’s security over liberal hypocrisy”.

He said that like the Hungarian government, Salvini saw the security risks posed by immigration and had the courage to speak out against it. “It’s important for the voices speaking out against illegal migration to become one and as loud as possible, and to force Brussels to stop supporting migration,” Szijjártó said.

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The minister said Hungary was under pressure both from the constant flow of refugees from Ukraine and “the illegal migrants keeping the southern border under siege”. The Hungarian authorities have prevented 225,000 people from crossing the country’s border illegally so far this year, he said, adding that criminal proceedings were under way against more than 1,500 people smugglers who had fired on police officers.