Szijjártó: Hungary building comprehensive strategic partnership with Chad

Hungary is building a comprehensive strategic partnership with Chad encompassing the areas of defence, the economy and education, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday, adding that this would further strengthen the country’s stabilising role in the Sahel.

Szijjártó talks about partnership with Chad

At a joint press conference with counterpart Abderaman Koulamallah, Szijjártó highlighted the Chadian president’s “historic” first-time visit to Hungary.

“We’re talking about two countries that devote special attention to preserving their sovereignty, two countries that take a clear stand for peace,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement. He said both countries believed that wars should be settled with negotiation rather than weapons.

Szijjártó said armed conflicts have caused serious challenges for both Hungary and Chad in recent years, and both countries rejected any steps in international politics that risked escalation in the ongoing conflicts.

He said Europe faced a number of security challenges, with one of the main ones being illegal migration along with the growing threat of terrorism that was closely related to it. He said illegal migration into the European Union could not be stopped without cooperation with the Sahel region.

“We know full well the importance of the stabilising role Chad plays in this critical region of Africa, so it is also as the country holding the rotating presidency of the European Union that we do our part in developing the cooperation between the European Union and the Sahel, as well as in stopping illegal migration,” he said, adding that Hungary was building a strategic partnership with Chad.

“We have signed the strategic cooperation agreement on this along with the cooperation agreements on defence and animal husbandry,” Szijjártó said. “This is a comprehensive partnership that has a defence, economic and education pillar as well.”

He said Hungary is prepared to launch a 150-200 million euro tied aid programme to support agriculture, the food industry, and the development of water supply, education and digitalisation in the central African country.

Also, the Hungary Helps humanitarian scheme is launching a one million US dollar aid programme to prevent the spread of infections and improve health care in Chad, he added.

Szijjártó said the Hungarian government has initiated the transfer of a 14 million euro contribution from the European Peace Facility to support the development of Chad’s defence capacities, adding that EU ambassadors are scheduled to discuss the proposal on Sept 26.

He said that under their defence cooperation pact, Hungary and Chad will work to ensure that their exchanges of knowledge and experiences can contribute to the success of the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Hungary will offer university scholarships to 25 Chadian students each year.

He also announced that Hungary will elevate its diplomatic mission in N’Djamena to embassy status.

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