Middle East

Defence minister: All known Hungarians in Afghanistan evacuated

afghanustan hungary military

The Hungarian Armed Forces has evacuated altogether 540 people from Afghanistan, including all Hungarian citizens known to be in the country, Hungarian Defence Minister Tibor Benkő said on Thursday.

Besides Hungarian citizens, the Hungarian forces have also transported US, Austrian and Afghan citizens in a seven-day operation started on August 19, he told a press conference.

All Hungarians requesting assistance were brought back to Hungary, as were all Afghan citizens who had cooperated with the Hungarian armed forces over its 18-year deployment and requested evacuation “on time”, Benkő said.

Some 87 percent of “Afghans with ties to Hungary” were evacuated, including 57 families and 180 children, he said.

Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces, said the “Hungarian soldiers have written history” in managing an “evacuation operation with unparallelled challenges in recent history”.

The government ordered the evacuation of Hungarian citizens on August 17, and the army’s resources were scrambled by the afternoon the next day. The operation started early on August 19, he added.

afghan conflict refugees
Read alsoAfghan refugees taken to migration facilities in Hungary

Afghan refugees taken to migration facilities in Hungary

afghan conflict refugees

A convoy taking 114 Afghan refugees who fled Taliban retribution because they cooperated with Hungary in Afghanistan left the Liszt Ferenc International Aisport in Budapest and will be transported to migrant facilities in Röszke and Tompa, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

Altogether 114 adults, including a disabled woman and a man who suffered gunshot wounds ten days ago, and 126 children will be held in quarantine at the immigration office’s facilities in southern Hungary, the ministry said.

The Hungarian state will provide them with food and shelter, they will also receive basic health and hygiene packages and clothing, it added.

Their medical examination, the organization of their supply of clothing appropriate for the season, and the recording and verification of their data necessary for the performance of the tasks of the immigration authorities began.

Earlier, a plane arrived in Hungary with 173 Afghan refugees.

Hungary-Afghanistan-USA-FM
Read alsoUS soldiers should not hinder Hungarian rescue operations in Afghanistan!

Hungary offers on-site help for Afghanistan, but welcomes no migrants

Hungary-USA-Afghanistan

The first Hungarian aircraft participating in an evacuation mission from Afghanistan is expected to land in Budapest around midnight, a foreign ministry state secretary said on Sunday.

Levente Magyar said the people arriving on the aircraft, rescued by Hungarian troops, include many Afghans and a significant number of Hungarian and American nationals. He added that “dozens of Americans” are being evacuated from Afghanistan on aircraft the Hungarian Army has deployed for the rescue operation. He declined to reveal further details while the evacuation is underway.

He said the timeframe for the evacuation is “extremely limited”,

adding that the Americans would either call and end to the operation or the Taliban would “change the circumstances of the ceasefire”. Magyar also mentioned “accusations” that Hungary and the Hungarian government had been “insensitive with regard to humanitarian factors”.

He said an extraordinary meeting of NATO ministers of foreign affairs called on Friday at which he participated, filling in for Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, was “completely useless” as

“we can’t do anything to improve the situation in Afghanistan retroactively”.

At this point, he added, “we can only talk about managing the consequences”.

Magyar said it was “unacceptable” that many Afghans eligible for evacuation are reaching the airport after facing the Taliban forces only to be detained by the Americans on the grounds that the airport is full. He said he told the US secretary of state at the NATO videoconference that all means must be used to change the situation.

On Saturday, he said “a trickle” of Hungarians and their Afghan allies were allowed out. Magyar said Hungary is working with the Americans to keep the admission of people into the Kabul airport at an accelerated pace. He predicted “masses of people” from Afghanistan will head towards Europe.

“We can only manage this by offering assistance on site,

first of all by not allowing these people to charge into Europe in an uncoordinated manner,” he added.

European leaders follow Orbán’s example in days of crisis?

migration Hungary government

The migration crisis in 2015 had a more significant impact than many people thought.

The unfortunate events of Afghanistan shocked the whole world this week. Many countries are trying to get their citizens out of the dangerous areas and prepare for refugees to come to Europe.

The previous migration crisis, however, left noticeable traces that have an impact even on the recent decisions made. A technical lock will be placed on the Lithuanian-Belarus border because the Belarusian president threatened Lithuania with illegal migration. The EU had to intervene to make sure that migrants from Bagdad are not taken to Minks to later be transferred to Lithuania, writes 24.hu.

Turkey has an important role as well. If the country wanted to destabilise the EU, this could be easily achieved as it is Turkey that currently stops migrants from further travel, but it could simply let them enter the EU.

No wonder that the situation in Afghanistan raised serious concerns. Refugees are getting sympathy and support from the general public, but some fear that 1 million Afghans will probably come to Europe in hopes of a safer life. The case of Germany and France is interesting in this aspect because the approaching elections might play a part in how politicians will handle the possible issues.

The refugee crisis could affect America, Europe, and even China. A Chinese province where Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, live is actually neighbouring the land which is currently under the rule of the Taliban regime.

To keep things under control, the EU decided to follow the same tactics and plans that the Hungarian prime minister set up back in 2015.  “Most EU leaders are reluctant to be seen with him, but they have adopted almost all the practices and ideas that Orbán invented after the refugee crisis. This, in turn, will massively undermine the EU’s internal credibility,” writes 24.hu.

 

As Daily News Hungary reported, Foreign Ministry State Secretary Levente Magyar said that Hungary would help those Afghans who collaborated with Hungarian troops and whose life could be in mortal danger. These people will be accepted as refugees in Hungary. Helping them, according to Magyar, is a “moral duty”.

Jobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: Thoughts on the aftermath of a huge failure in Afghanistan

Afghan conflict

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

Seeing the media photos on the Afghanistan situation, it’s hard to say anything. After failing in Afghanistan that was occupied by the Taliban within just a few days, the western countries are now fleeing in a chaotic mess, abandoning everything, including the people of Afghanistan.

This is a sad conclusion to a nearly 20-year period and an important lesson for America and Europe. That’s why I think we need to face the reality no matter how hard it is.

We must face the fact that the West, which identifies with tolerance and diversity, has failed to understand Afghanistan’s diversity and culture. Despite the persistent export of western institutions, they failed to build a solid societal base in this country inhabited by so many different peoples and burdened by so much internal tension. Unfortunately, democracies are not built in a day, even in the more underprivileged part of Europe, let alone Central Asia. No matter how the institutions, the army and public order exist on paper, if there aren’t enough people to back them, they collapse. Just as we have witnessed it. It’s a painful lesson to learn.

We must also face the fact that the images of desperate Afghan people trying to get on the last planes fundamentally question the West’s belief in solidarity and its righteousness when it comes to holding itself accountable for the often-advertised ethical norms. Over the past twenty years lots of Afghans cooperated with the missions and the deployed armies of the western countries. Despite all the difficulties, countless Afghans tried to organize their lives in a new political system on the basis of what they learnt from the West. The West has abandoned these people in their time of need, which might even cost their lives. I believe if there ever was an absolutely justified time for western countries to help refugees, it would have been now.

However, they hardly did anything because the tragedy was not taking place on their borders. It was somewhere far, far away.

We must also face the fact that the Taliban has changed over the past 20 years, too: they seem to have realized they had better keep contact with the outside world. Russia and China are getting ready to take control in the vacuum left behind by the western exodus. If necessary, they will recognize the Taliban government. America and Europe lost once again, because they were unable to maintain their dominance while Russia and China appear to be increasing their power even more. This is a terribly disheartening message to those who, often risking their lives in different parts of the world, defy oppressive governments and fight for their freedom in the hope of western help and support to guide their countries to the path of democracy.

The West seems to have failed to live up to its own principles. Not only is this utterly sad, but I’m afraid it poses enormous long-term risks for us, too. If we are unable to protect our principles and guarantee the safety of the people who believe in western values, who will protect us from falling victim to authoritarian regimes? It’s time for the leaders of the western world to think about it. If they truly care, that is…

Hungary Afghanistan rescue
Read alsoHungarian citizens evacuated from Afghanistan

Hungarian citizens evacuated from Afghanistan

Hungary Afghanistan rescue

Hungary’s military allies have evacuated 26 Hungarian citizens from Kabul to Tashkent, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Foreign ministry state secretary Levente Magyar had said earlier that Hungary would launch an operation in Kabul to evacuate Hungarians and their Afghan helpers.

“After consulting with Hungary, our military allies have flown 26 Hungarian citizens out of Afghanistan,”

the ministry said in a statement.

Magyar had said that Hungary was also prepared to help Afghan citizens who had helped the Hungarian troops in the country, as well as their families. This group, he said, numbers a few hundred people.

“We know who they are, and they are in mortal danger, so it is our moral duty to help them,”

Magyar said.

Magyar said Afghanistan-related tasks are fulfilled by cargo planes starting from the airport in Pápa, western Hungary. The details of the operation are under NATO command and are confidential, he said.

Hungary to launch Afghanistan rescue operation

Hungary-Afghanistan-military-rescue
Hungary will launch an operation in Kabul to evacuate Hungarians and their Afghan helpers, a state secretary of the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
 
The journey home is already ensured for 26 Hungarians who will be “brought back to Europe within the foreseeable future”, Levente Magyar told a press conference. “The number of Hungarians the foreign ministry knows to be currently in Afghanistan is so small they can all be fitted into a single airplane,” he added.
 
Besides Hungarians, the government is also ready to help Afghan citizens who had helped the Hungarian troops in the country,
as well as their families, “a few hundred people … we know who they are, and they are in mortal danger, it is our moral duty to help them,” he said.

At the same time,
“it is out of the question” that Hungary should participate in a “general redistribution” of Afghan refugees
and accept them into the country, he said.
 
 
In the wake of the allied forces’ “irresponsible withdrawal” from Afghanistan, millions of Afghans could leave their homeland, Magyar warned. Hungary will not yield to migration pressure and will keep its southern borders closed, he said.

 The allied forces led by the United States have “found themselves in a humiliating, hitherto unimmaginable situation,” Magyar said. After a twenty-year confict claiming 250,000 lives, it is now “up to the goodwill of the Taliban whether they can rescue their own citizens and the Afghans helping them,” he said.
 
Magyar called a recent meeting of European Union foreign ministers on the situation “disappointing”.
“Although Europe could have made a serious impact on the events, it merely watches paralysed and issues lamenting statements on the infringement on human rights,” he said.

 Regarding details of the operation, Magyar said Afghanistan-related tasks are fulfilled by cargo planes starting from the airport in Papa, western Hungary. The details of the operation are under NATO command and are confidential, he said.
 

Romanian woman wanted to smuggle an Afghan teenager in her suitcase into Hungary!

Hungary Romania Afghanistan

She wanted to smuggle him into Hungary on board an international train going to Austria in her suitcase.

According to index.hu, the event was reported by the Romanian border guard authority today. Their employees checked her suitcase at the border control post near Kürtös because the 24-year-old woman seemed to be very excited. When they opened her luggage, a 15-year-old boy came out from it. The international train’s final destination was Austria.

The young woman said that she wanted to take the younger brother of her Afghan boyfriend to Germany. The Romanian border patrol reports 10-30 of such illegal migrant cases daily. Most of the migrants try to hide in the cargo of the trucks to get through the Romanian-Hungarian border.

Government: Hungary prepared to evacuate all its citizens from Afghanistan!

Meanwhile, deputy foreign minister Levente Magyar held a press conference today – 444.hu reported. He said that the 26 Hungarian security professionals, who protected the Dutch embassy in Kabul, would be taken home by NATO. However, they asked for the help of the Hungarian authorities only after it became clear for them that the Netherlands will not help.

He added that there are further Hungarian citizens in the Afghan war zone, but he would not tell how many due to security reasons. He cleared that the ministry will share details only after the rescuing mission. He highlighted that the foreign ministry does not know how many Hungarian citizens there are abroad in the different countries.

He said that Hungary has a moral responsibility towards those Afghan nationals who helped the Hungarian mission in Afghanistan. They are a couple of dozens, but it is not yet clear how many of them Budapest can help.

He criticized the USA highlighting that Afghanistan could have been a good example for the export of democracy. However, the opposite happened, so “we are not doing something good”, and we must rethink many things.”

He did not say a direct answer on whether the Hungarian government regards the Taliban terrorists or not. But he said that they are a danger to world peace, and their power in Afghanistan is a global security problem.

He also said that the government expects a new wave of migrants and that FM Péter Szijjártó is on holiday.

 
Featured image: illustration

Government: Hungary prepared to evacuate all its citizens from Afghanistan!

Hungary-Afghanistan-evacuation

Hungary will bring all its citizens home safely from Afghanistan, a foreign ministry official said on Tuesday.

Hungarians in Afghanistan are reaching out to the Hungarian authorities about returning home every hour, state secretary Levente Magyar told public media, but could not specify how many people would be evacuated in total. The government will do everything it can to get all Hungarians home safely, he added.

One larger group of 26 people is expected to be flown home by one of Hungary’s military allies,

Magyar said. However, if this plan were to fall through for some reason, Hungary will be able to bring them home too, he added.

Magyar said the crisis in Afghanistan was approaching its denouement, which he said had been caused by the United States announcing the withdrawal of its troops from the country without any prior meaningful consultations with its allies.

The withdrawal was carried out, “paving the way for an overwhelming offensive by the Taliban, which has now allowed them to take control of the entire country”,

he added.

Because of this, there is now a threat that Europe could see a repeat of 2015 when it was “overrun” by millions of migrants from the Middle East, the state secretary said.

Magyar said the current situation indicated that the West “hasn’t learned anything”,

and after Libya, Iraq and Syria, it will leave behind “ruin, hundreds of thousands of casualties, political chaos, a reign of terror by extremists and millions of emigrants in Afghanistan, too”.

The Hungarian government, however, will not let the Hungarian people be made to “pay the price for the dilettantism of the superpowers”,

Magyar said. Hungary therefore refuses to take in the wave of migrants that will be fleeing the chaos in Afghanistan, the state secretary added.

Breaking – foreign ministry was wrong, there are Hungarian citizens stuck in Afghanistan!

Hungary-Afghanistan-foreign-ministry

There are more than 26 Hungarian citizens stuck in Afghanistan – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs already confirmed. They can come home today or tomorrow.

According to index.hu, 26 Hungarian employees had the company that provided the defence of the embassy of Netherlands in Kabul. The security professionals are now waiting for rescue in the Afghan capital taken by Taliban forces yesterday.

The foreign ministry cleared, it is frequent in such emergencies that Hungarian citizens they did not know about ask for help. Similar things happened during the repatriation of the Hungarian nationals last year when the coronavirus epidemic broke out.

They added that the ministry already agreed with the evacuation of the Hungarian team with one of Hungary’s military allies. They highlighted that apart from the security professionals, further Hungarian citizens asked for help. The ministry remains in contact with all of them, but they did not want to share details about their extraction. Interestingly, the last Hungarian soldiers taking part in the Afghanistan mission arrived back in June.

As we reported before, Bucharest will send troops and a plane for Romanian citizens in the civil war-torn Asian country, and even Slovak citizens living in Afghanistan asked for help. Slovak PM Eduard Heger said that they gave a military aircraft for the NATO and are in intensive talks about how they can help their citizens and the Afghans. The Czech army transported their citizens home on Monday.

Regarding Hungary, atv.hu asked the Hungarian foreign ministry how many Hungarian citizens there are in Afghanistan. The ministry said on Monday that there were none. However, foreign secretary Levente Magyar added that the Hungarian government was looking into ways to help those who had worked for Hungarian troops as interpreters or in other capacities over the last 20 years.

Regarding their rescue, no information has been provided yet.

Hungarian private mercenary army was created, the investor is from Dubai

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A Hungarian private mercenary army is currently recruiting members. The private enterprise will work on a foreign military mission. The goal of the founder is to create a prestigious company on an international scale.

The new company is more than just a security company. Richárd Bagjos, the professional coordinator of the enterprise, told novekedes.hu that all employees are recruited based on acquaintanceship and personal recommendations, and they will not recruit new employees online. Every recruited person has experience in law enforcement. Former soldiers, shooters, police officers, and specially qualified people, such as firefighters and detectives, will work at the company. Application has been open since October last year.

Right now, there are 1,000 people available for a mission. There could be a total of 3,000 Hungarian men of arms, and another 7,000-8,000 people from the security sector could be recruited. The rest of them could be recruited from the Czech Republic, Poland, South America, and South Asia, in the case of an expansion of up to approximately 20,000 people.

“For the time being, headhunting has been going on in Hungary for ten months; among others, we are looking for blasting experts, IT specialists, paramedics, and even radar operators and interpreters, not just armed guards,” writes novekedes.hu based on the words of the professional coordinator.

The founder of the enterprise wants to be able to deploy a contingent of 600 people to any part of the world. The investor is the owner of a company group in Dubai. The Hungarian private mercenary will be registered in the United Arab Emirates.

The clients would be countries where law enforcement and the military are necessary. These clients could be Iran or Afghanistan. Both countries are currently left without multinational western forces.

The company made an offer to assist in the defending of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. There was a request from Iraq to take part in projects related to the government, but there have been discussions about the defence of the Syrian-Iraqi border. Other missions could take place at an African airport and port, in a French refugee camp, but the Hungarian company might also help with advice to a police unit in Sweden. 

Some discussions involve other tasks, such as building private prisons, stopping street riots, and training personnel.

Hungary built a vocational training centre in Lebanon

Hungary Lebanon building

Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s state secretary in charge of aiding persecuted Christians, and Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, inaugurated a cultural and vocational training centre built in part from funds contributed by the Hungarian government in Lebanon on Friday.

The Hungarian government contributed 2.2 billion dollars to the construction of the cultural and vocational training centre that will serve the “revival” of the local Christian community, Azbej told MTI by phone. In addition to supporting the Middle Eastern and Lebanese Christian community, the project also serves Hungary’s political interests, the state secretary said.

Lebanon is caring for some 2 million refugees, Azbej said, adding that if the humanitarian crisis there were to deepen, the refugees would likely flee the country, thereby increasing the flow of illegal migrants towards Europe.

He said it was therefore in Hungary’s strategic interest to support and strengthen the local community and protect the region’s Christian heritage.

The government’s Hungary Helps aid programme is aimed at both helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East and stemming the flow of migrants to Europe, he noted.

The newly inaugurated vocational training centre will contribute to the education of Christian youth and women,

allowing them to find jobs and make a living in their homeland,

Azbej said.

The Hungarian delegation is in Beirut at the invitation of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Azbej said. He said the patriarch had conveyed his thanks to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian people for their solidarity.

Azbej said the patriarch had described to him the effects of the coronavirus crisis on Lebanon’s education system. Many schools have had to close and students cannot afford to pay their tuition, the state secretary said. In light of Friday’s talks, the Hungarian government will look into ways it can support Lebanon’s Christian education system, he added.

Featured image: Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, after an anti-government protest on June 17.

9 Things to consider when setting up a business in the Middle East, UAE

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The business community always finds an opportunity to grow its business around the globe, and it’s easy to make a business deal in the Middle East, UAE. The Middle East offers unlimited opportunities for the business community to set up a business and make a handsome capital.

All the things like free zone industries, no taxes, low custom duties, strategic spots with excellent infrastructure boost the business prospects. Several business companies, including health Insurance Companies in UAE, offer various services to their users to easily tackle business problems and health issues. If you belong to a business community, then you must understand the terms and regulations in starting a new business in the Middle East, UAE.

 Some essential things to consider while establishing a business in UAE

No doubt, UAE is the hub for the business community, but the proper steps at the right time would be a benefit for your business and capital. There are some important things to consider if you are starting your business in the Middle East, UAE such as:

  1. Understanding the Business procedures

UAE is a hub to make your capital, and its first step is to understand the opening business procedures in UAE. It only takes six steps to open a business company in almost eight days. The business procedure includes:

  • You must finalize your Business approach or activities.
  • It would be best if you chose a brand name for your business company.
  • It would help if you chose a setup for your business, either Freezone or mainland.
  • Next step, you have to apply for your business license.
  • You have to attempt to apply for visas.
  • In the last step, you must open a corporate bank account.
  1. Knowing of Business companies in UAE

The step is more important to deal with your competitors and other business partners. You should know the business companies operating in UAE. As a beginner, it’s a wise decision to make a contract for insurance companies to handle any damage or mishap without losing money. Contracting with Health Insurance Companies in UAE provides relief for your health and other business matter, and you can claim money from the company.  Finding the right platform for your company would be a wise decision in UAE and positively impact your business.

  1. Finding a Right Local Partner

You can’t succeed in UAE without the assistance of the local partners as they know about the technical and legal difficulties approaching the business way. Try to find a local partner for your business company with complete research about its business values, status, and aim. It’s not a piece of cake to find the right partner, but comparing two or more local partners at a time can make things more smooth and straightforward.

  1. Always make contact with your partners regularly

It’s the most important thing to consider while starting a new business always to try to make direct contact with your partners regularly and discuss the business status in the market. Try to approach the high management for resolving issues about sales and share in the market.

  1. Make a big Investment

 Starting a business in UAE demands significant capital to overtake the business market; otherwise, you’ll lose your investment. Huge investment can assist you in finding the best partner for your company who can trust you and put its investment in your business. It will attract more shareholders to be a part of your business and eventually enhance your sales and shares in the market.

  1. Be Friendly with the Business Companies

If you show nice and friendly behavior to the business clients, you can get whatever you want. The Arabs are attracted to the friendly and humble behavior and offer other business opportunities for the new businessman. Try to learn some Arabic words that make a positive and attractive impact on your local partners and clients.

  1. Time is precious

It’s not an easy job to stay in UAE as a beginner for your business. It will cost too much if you have no operational business in UAE. Time is all about money, so always take a chance to avail best business opportunities so that you can make your time more valuable and economical. For example, as an entrepreneur, you are starting a business that requires eight to nine months, so you must have enough money to survive on it until your business make a flying step in the market.

  1. Talented Team

Starting a business requires a team, staff members and other workers. Finding a talented team for your business would be a critical phase for you. So, always choose qualified and experienced experts to understand the business value and business competition in the market.

  1. Stick to your Aim

There would be a phase where you find yourself a loser in starting a business. Always try to believe in your business skills and abilities and stick to your purpose to make a remarkable achievement in the business community. Always follow your ethics and cultural values to impress clients and other business partners for creating a business deal.

Last Hungarian Afghanistan mission soldiers arrive back

hungary army afghanistan

After completing their final tour in Afghanistan, nine Hungarian soldiers arrived back in Hungary on Tuesday night at the 59th Dezső Szentgyörgyi Air Base in Kecskemét.

Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, Commander of the Hungarian Armed Forces, received the Hungarian flag from the contingent’s Afghanistan headquarters, and said

the flag was a symbol of the Hungarian soldiers’ great endeavours together with their NATO colleagues towards maintaining joint security over the past 18 years.

The commander called on those Hungarian soldiers who had successfully completed their mission and returned to their families to remember seven of their comrades who had given their lives in Afghanistan for the security of the Hungarian people and the world.

Two Gripen jets accompanied the plane carrying the returning soldiers through Hungarian airspace to Kecskemét air base.

orbán military
Read alsoOrbán: Hungary aims to develop strong, modern army

Hungary stands by Israel, says foreign minister

szijjártó netanjahu

Hungary stands by Israel which is its friend and an ally, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, at their talks in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Hungary considers Israel a friend, so it is natural that Hungary will stand by its friend when it comes under attack, Szijjártó told a press briefing after the talks.

Netanyahu expressed thanks for Hungary’s support and Szijjártó reassured him that Hungary would take the same position in the future as well.

Szijjártó said Hungary would veto any future statement or resolution that was “unfair” to the Middle Eastern country, took an anti-Israel stance or had anti-Semitic undertones.

Though Israel was attacked by a terrorist organisation in the form of Hamas, this was not made clear in the international political arena, Szijjártó said. The international community failed to stand by Israel due to “hypocrisy and double standards”, he added.

Szijjártó said Israel and Hamas had practically been treated as equals on the international political scene, “as if Hamas were some kind of NGO”. However, it should be made clear that Hamas is a terrorist group that attacked Israel, he said.

Israel has a right to defend itself, Szijjártó told Hungarian public media during his visit.

“We regret that international political organisations have not taken a joint stance on the situation,” he added.

“We regret that it wasn’t made clear that Israel had been attacked by a terrorist organisation and that certain international organisations wanted to treat Israel and Hamas as equals, as if Hamas were an NGO,” he said. “And we also regret that international organisations don’t make it clear that Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Hungary has vetoed multiple resolutions and statements in both the European Union and the United Nations that were “extremely unfair” to Israel, he said.

“They took a totally biased and anti-Israel approach to the situation,” Szijjártó said.

“We have never supported such anti-Israel positions and will not support them in the future either.”

Israel Palestine United Kingdom
Read alsoThousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators march in Britain

Hungary’s pavilion for the Dubai World Expo is ready for handover – PHOTOS, VIDEO

Dubai World Expo Hungarian Pavilion Render

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down and almost all large-scale events were either cancelled or postponed. And this is exactly what had happened to 2020’s World Expo in Dubai.

Expo 2020 was originally scheduled to be held from the 20th of October 2020 until the 10th of April 2021. Due to the limiting restrictions of many countries and drop in international travelling, the new date of the Dubai World Expo is postponed almost an entire year and will be held from the 1st of October this year until the 31st of March 2022.

This means that the Expo in Dubai will launch within 123 days with the participation of 190 nations and many organisations as well. This is truly a world-size event.

Dubai World Expo Hungarian Pavilion Sketch
Photo: hungaryexpo2020.hu/

Many nations have already created their pavilions which you can browse on the official website and according to Magyar Nemzet, the Hungarian pavilion’s construction work has also benn completed. It is currently awaiting the inspection of the Expo’s safety authorities before it could be handed over for the interior team.

This video is from Magyar Nemzet

The Hungarian pavilion is located within the Expo’s Mobility section and it is the only building in the entire region located near the Persian Gulf. According to Hvg’s information, near the end of the construction,

the cost of the building has been increased by a whopping HUF 666 million (€ 1.88 million) making the total end cost of the magnificent pavilion HUF 11.266 billion, which is around € 31,735,211.

Dubai World Expo Hungarian Pavilion
Photo: Hungary at Expo 2020 Facebook page

According to the official Hungarian website of the pavilion, Hungaryexpo2020, the building was designed by Imre Makovecz’s former students, the Miklós Ybl prize awarded Lőrinc Csernyus.

It was built for months by a total of 17 Hungarian carpenters, it has a usable area of 1,927 m2 and a total of 560 tonnes of wood were used to construct the Hungarian pavilion. The longest structural piece is 18.47 metres and the heaviest element was over 2.7 tonnes, Magyar Nemzet reported.

Dubai World Expo Hungarian Pavilion Night
Photo: hungaryexpo2020.hu/

The pavilion was designed to showcase one of Hungary’s most precious treasures: water. Hungary is rich in water and especially famous for its thermal and medicinal mineral waters and the pavilion will help showcase, promote and also teach everything there is about these natural treasures with the help of an all-encompassing interactive exhibition. Hungaryexpo2020 also wrote that the large cupola in the middle will be housing an exhibition about balneotherapy.

According to the official info, anyone who visits the Hungarian pavilion will have a chance to browse hand-crafted items, try Hungarian dishes and be able to taste waters from Hungary.

Keleti railway station Budapest train MÁV
Read alsoLatest developments of Budapest’s railway lines – New Danube tunnel on the way?

Featured image: hungaryexpo2020.hu/

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators march in Britain

Israel Palestine United Kingdom

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through London and other British cities on Saturday to protest against Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip during fighting with the Islamist group Hamas.

Protesters called for sanctions on Israel during the march in London. Some were draped in Palestinian flags and set off green and red smoke flares. Others carried banners declaring “Free Palestine”, “Stop bombing Gaza” and “Sanctions on Israel”.

A ceasefire on Friday, mediated by Egypt, ended 11 days of hostilities,

during which the Israeli military pounded Gaza with air strikes which it said were a response to rockets fired at Israel by Palestinians militants.

Gaza medical officials said 248 people were killed in the Palestinian enclave,

and aid officials have expressed concern about the humanitarian situation there.

Health officials said 13 people were killed in Israel in the hostilities, during which the Israeli military said Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups fired around 4,350 rockets, many of which did not reach Israel or were intercepted.

Hungary leads the Council of Europe – here are the plans

Facebook deploys special team as Israel-Gaza conflict spreads across social media

Israel Facebook Palestine

Facebook Inc set up a 24-7 “special operations center” last week to respond to content posted on its platform about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid violence in the region, the company said on Wednesday.

Misinformation, hate speech and calls for violence about the conflict have circulated on social media platforms amid the deadly fighting. “This operations center allows us to closely monitor the situation so we can remove content that violates our community standards faster, while also addressing possible errors in enforcement,” Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of content policy, told reporters on a conference call.

Facebook has previously set up similar operations centers to focus on situations like global elections.

Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that Facebook’s head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, and other executives had on Tuesday spoken to Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. Facebook executives previously met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz via Zoom, Politico reported last week.

A Reuters fact-checking team has debunked images shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

that falsely claim to be related to the conflict. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Jewish extremists had formed new groups on WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging service, for the purpose of committing violence against Palestinians.

“As a private messaging service, we do not have access to the contents of people’s personal chats though when information is reported to us, we take action to ban accounts we believe may be involved in causing imminent harm,” a WhatsApp spokesman said.

“We also quickly respond to valid legal requests from law enforcement for the limited information available to us.”

Social media platforms have also faced accusations of censorship. Last week, BuzzFeed News reported that Facebook-owned Instagram had mistakenly removed content about al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem where Israeli security police clashed with worshippers.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation also reported that Instagram and Twitter Inc had blamed glitches https://reut.rs/3ouaf0t for the

deletion of posts mentioning the possible eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

Facebook has banned Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas from its platform and removes content praising the group regarded by Israel, the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group.

Facebook’s Bickert said the new operations center was staffed by experts, including native Arabic and Hebrew speakers. California-based Facebook has been criticized in the past for lacking local language expertise and resources amid violent situations in other countries.