Hungary will help Venezuela extract oil

Hungary has decided that it will rebuild its relations and cooperation with Venezuela, and will be among the first countries to do so in the interest of maximum benefit, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Caracas on Friday.

According to a ministry statement, Szijjártó praised the stable foundations of Hungarian-Venezuelan ties, noting that tens of thousands of Hungarians had fled to the South American country after the second world war and the 1956 anti-communist uprising, where they received a lot of help in starting over. He said there were currently some 3,000 people of Hungarian origin living in Venezuela, making up the third most populous community in the area.

Based on this “historical link” and the international opening towards Venezuela, Hungary, too, has decided to rebuild its ties with the country, the minister said.

Venezuela is the world’s third largest oil producer, Szijjártó said, adding that Hungarian technologies could be used to boost the efficiency of oil production, and that representatives of oil and gas company MOL had accompanied him on his visit.

Venezuela is also increasing its natural gas output, and European interest in LNG imports is strong, he said, noting that representatives of Hungarian energy company MVM were also present and had entered into talks on opportunities for LNG imports.

Hungarian water purification and medical equipment are already in use in Venezuela

“We have to be quick here, as the opening is also happening quickly, and as we can see, the western Europeans and the Americans like being first,” Szijjártó said. “It’s important that we, too, are here at the very beginning.”

Szijjártó noted that bilateral trade grew by 68 percent last year and that Hungarian water purification and medical equipment are already in use in Venezuela.

He said Hungary will offer scholarships to 25 Venezuelan university students each year starting in 2024. Also, the two countries will elevate their contact to the ambassadorial level and the honorary consul in Caracas will be promoted to honorary consul general, he said.

Szijjártó said Hungarian officials last paid a similar visit to Venezuela in 1992, and the timing of today’s visit was significant because of the increasingly serious conflicts in the world with countries engaged in disputes and “sanctioning each other”.

Hungary wants global politics to be about mutual respect in the coming period, rather than sanctions, Szijjártó said.

He said the sanctions currently in effect “aren’t really effective in achieving their goals, and are only causing a lot of damage and needless suffering”.

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Hungary instead wants to see a period of global cooperation and connectivity, he added.

Szijjártó welcomed the United States’ decision to relax its sanctions on Venezuela, and that the Latin American country was intensifying its economic cooperation with Spain, Portugal and France.

“We urge the European Union to relax its sanctions on Venezuela as the US has done,” he said, noting that the EU has reduced the time between reviews of its sanctions to six months.