Minister: Hungarians in danger in civil war-torn Sudan

Two warlords are fighting against each other in Sudan, creating a civil war, and some Hungarians are still in the African country.

Hungarian citizens still in Sudan

According to 24.hu, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, announced today that the Hungarian military rescued 14 Hungarian and 48 foreign citizens from Sudan. They took part in a scuba-diving trip around the shores of the war-torn African country. After the outbreak of the bloody conflict, Hungarian diplomacy established contact with the crew of the ship concerned. Thanks to that help and coordination, they could leave the shores of Sudan to Egypt after refuelling.

The boat arrived at the Egyptian Gurdaka today with Hungarians, Americans and Italians on board. The diplomats of the Hungarian Embassy in Cairo waited for them in the port, Szijjártó added. The Hungarians will be transferred today with consular help to Cairo and will depart for Budapest on Sunday.

However, an additional eight Hungarian citizens are still in Sudan. They are in contact with them and prepare to be evacuated when the situation allows such a move. Since airports are out of order, they cannot be evacuated. But they are in contact with other countries having citizens in Sudan. If their evacuation starts, Hungarians may receive help from them.

Politically motivated campaign of blackmail aims to make German companies uncertain

A politically motivated campaign lacking facts is under way against Hungary which aims to make German companies uncertain about planned investments, Szijjártó said. “What we are witnessing is that this campaign is turning into a sort of emotional blackmail,” the ministry cited Szijjártó telling an event organised by the DialogUngarn German-Hungarian economic organisation in Budapest. He said that in modern history, Europe had never before faced such severe security and economic challenges simultaneously as in the current period.

Europe is paying the price of the war in Ukraine as a result of soaring energy prices and inflation, which hurts the continent’s competitiveness, he said. The price of electricity in China is one-third of that in Europe and the price of natural gas in the US is one-seventh of that in Europe, he added. Szijjártó highlighted the risk of the escalation of the war, stating that it is greater than ever before, which justifies the Hungarian government’s pro-peace stance. He also said that the re-formation of blocs must be avoided in the world, adding that central Europe had always lost out on conflicts between East and West. “What’s needed instead is mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation,” Szijjártó added.

Decoupling dangerous

He said that efforts aimed at “decoupling” the European and Chinese economies are extremely dangerous. The transformation of the car industry cannot be reversed, with European car manufacturers having become completely dependent on electric battery makers in the East, he added. Over the past years, the government has pursued a political-economic strategy aimed at making Hungary a meeting point of eastern and western companies which offers great opportunities and a “life insurance” for maintaining the growth of the country’s economy, he said.

“We are members of western systems of alliances and at the same time, thanks to our policy of opening to the east, we have never alienated ourselves from eastern companies,” the foreign minister said. “We have always said that it does not matter where a company comes from, what matters is that they must abide by the rules,” he added. Szijjártó welcomed that despite the campaign to make German companies uncertain about their investments German companies “form the largest community of investors in Hungary” with 6,000 German companies employing some 300,000 people. He noted that the government had supported 183 German companies under its investment promotion scheme introduced in 2014.

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