Middle East

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia envisions Riyadh Expo 2030

riyadh expo 2030

There is a fierce competition among the three candidate countries for the hosting right of the World Expo 2030, however, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia undoubtedly leads the way being the strongest entry in its class. Are you wondering what this mega event is all about? And on what does the Middle Eastern powerhouse base its unshakeable confidence that their tender should be the chosen one? In this post, we have gathered the most important snippets of information regarding the greatest exhibition of the globe. 

As Arab News reported, earlier in July, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Paris to grace the Kingdom’s official reception for Riyadh’s bid to host the World Expo 2030 with his presence. The high-profile event welcomed delegates from the 179 member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) – the organisation in charge of the overseeing and coordination of the World Expos.

As their official website informs us, World Expos are global gatherings of nations committed to finding tangible solutions to the pressing challenges of our modern times by offering a journey inside a universal theme through engaging and immersive activities. Since 1851, when the very first such mega event was held in London, the greatest exhibition of the globe has provided its host cities with unparalleled opportunities and unrivalled world-scale exposure. 

Riyadh Expo 2030 on the cards?

Saudi Arabia is confident to win the bid against Italy and South Korea at the upcoming general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) slated for November. As part of the Middle Eastern country’s desirous efforts at securing the hosting right for the 2030 World Expo scheduled for 1 May to 31 October 2030, the Kingdom unveiled its pioneering plan to educate and entertain the over 40 million forecasted visitors, in addition to the 1 billion virtual followers, with the latest metaverse technologies. This state-of-the-art technology merges physical reality and digital virtual worlds in a multiuser environment and has been unprecedented in the history of the expo. 

Through Expo 2030 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would invite all the participating countries to work together on changing the course of our planet towards a brighter future. In harmony with this ambitious imperative, the Kingdom brought forward the following theme for the World Expo 2030: “The Era of Change: Leading the Planet to a Foresighted Tomorrow.” 

Unparalleled global exposure

It is no secret that the international event provides an outstanding platform for the hosting venues to present their unique and distinctive domestic values and their recent high-scale accomplishments to a global audience. The Kingdom prides itself for its rich cultural and historical heritage, fascinating landscape, unique architectural marvels as well as the immense economic and social transformation it has achieved since the launch of its Vision 2030 on 25 April in 2016.

Ultimately, the exhibition would offer visitors a valuable insight into the major mega projects of Riyadh, including the Riyadh Sports Boulevard, King Salman Park, Diriyah Gate, Qiddiya Amusement Park and the still-in-progress King Salman International Airport, which would serve as the arrival point for the visitors of the exhibition, thanks to its close proximity to the venue. 

The World Expo has always been regarded as a highly prestigious event all around the globe. And the tradition will no doubt carry on in the future. We are eager to see which candidate will come out as the winner, who will be granted the prestigious opportunity to host the World Expo 2023.

The most recent World Expo took place in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022 while the next World Expo will be held in Osaka, Kansai, Japan between 13 April and 13 October 2025.

New coastal destination in the Kartago Tours winter offer from Hungary!

oman muscat

The Hungarian tour operator Kartago Tours is launching its new destination Salalah, Oman, with a pre-booking promotion and sales competition. The tour operator is also launching direct charter flights to Ras Al-Khaimah this winter season.

New for the season is Salalah in Oman, also known as the “Caribbean of the East”. Ras Al-Khaimah is also included in the Kartago Tours offer for the first time this year with a direct charter, turizmus.com writes.

About 1,000 kilometres south of Oman’s capital, Muscat, lies Salalah. The city is surrounded by high mountain ranges and kilometres of wide white-sand beaches. About fifteen kilometres away is the newly created resort region of Hawana Salalah. There, some of the large resort complexes offer all-inclusive services. As in Ras Al-Khaimah in the Emirates, Kartago Tours provides a Hungarian-speaking guide.

In addition to the above, Kartago Tours will also launch a direct charter service to Hurghada in Egypt in this winter and spring timetable. The charter will be operated by Smartwings, and flights depart on Saturdays.

The newly appointed CEO of Kartago Tours Plc., Zsófia Bocsák, said:

“The two new directly accessible destinations announced by Kartago Tours’ parent company, DER Tourisik, have already been a great success in other Central European markets, so we have reason to believe that Salalah and Ras Al-Khaimah will quickly become known and popular among Hungarian travellers as well.”

Read also:

PM Orbán, FM Szijjártó held talks about war, athletics, aid for Christians

Orbán talks

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday held talks with World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, former Slovenian counterpart Janez Jansa, while FM Péter Szijjártó met with his former Lebanese counterpart.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Saturday held talks with Sebastian Coe, who earlier this week was re-elected World Athletics president at the World Athletics Congress in Budapest, the prime minister’s press chief said. Coe praised the new National Athletics Centre, calling it a “wonderful facility”, Bertalan Havasi told MTI. He also hailed the Hungarian organising committee for its work, adding that everything was set for a good World Athletics Championships. Orbán said the World Athletics Championships was also important economically for Hungary and Budapest, arguing that it generated money, but even more importantly, drew the world’s attention to Hungarians. The prime minister thanked the organisers and volunteers for their work.

The king of athletics:

Read also:

Orbán holds talks with former Slovenian PM

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with former Slovenian counterpart and head of the Slovenian Democratic Party, Janez Jansa, in his office on Saturday, the prime minister’s press chief said. Orbán and Jansa discussed, among other things, the damage caused by some of the worst storms in Slovenia’s history, for which Hungary has also provided aid in recent weeks, Bertalan Havasi told MTI.

They also discussed the global political situation as well as the importance of peace with respect to the Russia-Ukraine war, and reviewed the work to be done by European conservative Christian parties ahead of next year’s European Parliament elections. Jansa is scheduled to attend the August 20 celebrations and events at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Havasi said.

Read also:

  • Group of 38 Hungarian tourists stranded in Slovenia hotel after violent storms – Read more HERE

Hungarian foreign minister holds talks with former Lebanese FM

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held talks with former Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, in Budapest on Saturday. One of the pillars of Hungary’s Christian foreign policy is providing assistance to Christian communities in need, Szijjártó said at their joint press conference.

He said international politics should be about building relations, not about breaking them. “If you listen to European politicians, you can mostly hear about what separates us and what makes us different from other parts of the world. For some reason, there is less talk about what connects us and what we have in common,” he added.

“It is clearly in Hungary’s national interest to establish civilised cooperation between East and West. The cooperation between Hungary and Lebanon is an excellent example to this,” he said. He added that respect for each other and the shared Christian heritage provided a stable basis for this, as Hungary has a thousand-year-old Christian statehood, and Lebanon is home to the oldest Christian communities.

Szijjártó said that mayors András Cser-Palkovics and Marcellino Hark signed a twinning agreement between their cities, Székesfehérvár and Batroun, which further strengthened the friendship of the two nations. He noted that the government had provided close to 5 billion forints (EUR 13.0m) for the preservation and renovation of ancient Christian sites in Lebanon and the renovation of sixty-six medieval churches was under way with Hungarian assistance. Based on tied-aid agreements signed this year, the government is providing 140 million forints for the renovation of a historical monument, the reconstruction of a monastery church and an orphanage, and the operation of Protestant schools in Lebanon.

Who’s next? – asks Orbán.

New direct flight will begin operation from Budapest to the Middle East!

Budapest Airport new flight

The only problem is that Kuwait Airways will only start to operate that flight next summer.

According to Budflyer, a Hungarian travel news Facebook page, the Middle Eastern airline promised to launch a new, direct Budapest-Kuwait City flight next summer. Therefore, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister and Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, his counterpart, signed an agreement this week during the minister’s official visit in Budapest.

In January, we wrote that Kuwait Airways planned to launch flights to Athens, Barcelona, Berlin and Budapest. Then the company highlighted they would like their first plane to take off from Budapest in mid-June. They also said that the flights will commute between the two capitals on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and the route will be operated until September. June passed, but nothing happened.

Here are some photos of the quality service the Middle Eastern airline offers for their passengers:

However, this Tuesday, on 4 July, Budflyer wrote that Kuwait’s national airline postponed the service until next year. That is interesting since you could book tickets online for the June flights from this February. However, the flights disappeared this May when Kuwait Airways removed the route from their summer schedule. We hope this time they will stick to their promise and we can welcome their first flight next summer at Budapest Airport. The more connections Hungary has with the world, the better.

 

Kuwaiti and Hungarian Foreign Ministers met in Budapest

kuwait budapest hungary

Hungary and Kuwait are both in favour of urgent peace talks in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart in Budapest on Monday, arguing that the conflict could only be resolved through diplomacy.

“Given our own history, we, of course, condemn the war,” Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, according to a ministry statement. “Given our own history, we are, of course, committed to protecting and respecting sovereignty and the principle of territorial integrity. However, both countries believe in a peaceful resolution.”

“We’ve made it clear multiple times — both Kuwaitis and Hungarians — that there is no resolution to this war on the battlefield, only casualties of which there are more and more with each passing day,” Szijjarto said. “This war can only be resolved through diplomacy, only through negotiations.”

Szijjártó emphasised that neither Hungary nor Kuwait supplied weapons to the war, only humanitarian aid. This would not change, he said, arguing that weapons deliveries prolonged the conflict and caused more death.

“So we would like to make it clear again that it’s time for the peace camp to turn up the volume, because … there are more countries in the world that want peace than there are those suffering from war psychosis,”

Szijjártó said.

Meanwhile, the minister warned that the war in Ukraine should not overshadow “the unprecedented global threat of terrorism”.

“Islamic State has yet to be defeated, and if we take a look, we can see that terrorism is rearing its head in Afghanistan, Africa, and in more and more places and continents,” he said.

Terrorism is one of the main causes of migration, with the two together forming a “vicious cycle”, Szijjártó said, arguing that the threat of terrorism led to mass migration waves, which could be infiltrated by terrorists, enabling them to get from one part of the world to another.

“That’s why we attach great importance to the global fight against terrorism, and we thank Kuwait for taking up a leadership role in this, as the country is a leader in the global coalition against the Islamic State,” Szijjártó said.

Cooperation between Hungary and Kuwait rests on solid foundations when it comes to the two countries’ stances on global issues, he said.

Szijjártó urged stronger cooperation between the European Union and the Gulf region, saying it would be beneficial to both.

Hungary is therefore committed to its position that citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s member states should be allowed visa-free travel to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone and that the EU and the GCC should sign a free trade agreement as soon as possible, Szijjártó said.

“Until the European Union takes the necessary steps here, we will take every step possible at the national level,” the minister said. Hungary offers the greatest possible visa preferences to Kuwaiti citizens, is as flexible as possible, and “we always try to be the quickest” in issuing visas in Kuwait City, he added.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said talks on an investment protection agreement were nearing completion, and a meeting of the mixed economic committee has been convened for September. Also, a direct flight between Budapest and Kuwait City is set to be launched next summer under a tourism agreement signed today, he added.

Szijjártó also talked about the importance of boosting energy cooperation, saying the Kuwaiti authorities were looking into a solution by Hungarian oil and gas company MOL that can enhance extraction from depleting oil fields.

Also, a successor of Hungarian engineering company Ganz has been chosen to carry out the maintenance of a large portion of Kuwait’s high-voltage electricity network, Szijjarto said.

As we wrote earlier today, Kuwaiti FM in Budapest: great potential for development between the two countries.

Kuwaiti FM in Budapest: great potential for development between the two countries

kuwait

Economic development minister Márton Nagy on Monday met Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in Budapest on Monday to discuss economic ties and areas of future cooperation, the ministry told MTI.

Nagy praised Kuwait as the fifth richest country in the world with an “exemplary” 2.5 percent unemployment rate.

Trade volume between Hungary and Kuwait reached 33 million dollars in 2022, and there is “much room for improvement”, Nagy said. Besides the energy sector, there is room for cooperation in agriculture and the food and pharmaceutical industry, he said.

Hungarian companies could also benefit from Kuwait’s plan to become a financial, trade and cultural hub by 2035, he added.

As we wrote before, despite the previous plans, Kuwait Airways will not come to Budapest Airport from 13 June. Details HERE.

Hungarian FM: Global security at greatest risk in 70 years

Szijjártó Riyadh

Global security is facing the largest risks in 70 years, and the threat of terrorism and a third world war has never been greater, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Riyadh on Thursday, where he attended a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

According to a ministry statement, Péter Szijjártó told the meeting co-chaired by the US and Saudi Arabia that Hungary continued to support the most vulnerable communities to allow them to make a living in their homelands.

Hungary will plough HUF 1.6 billion (EUR 4.3m) into supporting another 16 projects in Iraq and Syria, to help reconstruct and operate schools and hospitals, as well as important religious, welfare and humanitarian institutions, he said.

Currently, 134 Hungarian troops are participating in the Coalition’s training mission in Iraq, he added.

Hungary also supports the UN’s initiative to hold ISIS soldiers accountable for their crimes, he said. Those oppressing communities or committing terrorist acts should know that they will be punished for those crimes, he said.

Hungarians, who are facing challenges from the east and south simultaneously, know that global security is impossible without a determined and successful stand against terrorism, he said.

Szijjártó noted that although ISIS “seemed to have been defeated in recent years”, the group has surfaced in various locations again and again, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

Terrorism and mass migration form a vicious circle, he said. The higher the threat of terrorism, the bigger the chance of growing migration pressure in Europe. Hungary is at the forefront of that since the Western Balkans migration route has become the primary way to travel to the EU, he said.

The fight against terrorism is therefore a priority for Hungary, he said. Europe could not handle two security challenges at the same time, especially under the weight of the serious consequences of the war in Ukraine, he said.

Threats to global security are the gravest of the past 70 years. Countries’ open references to nuclear power and terror threats are also the strongest in 70 years, he said.

A victory against terrorist organisations is key to ensuring peace in Hungary’s eastern neighbour and to warding off migration pressure in the south, Szijjártó said.

PM Orbán invites Qatar investors to buy Budapest Airport

Budapest Airport new airlines

PM Viktor Orbán said in Qatar this week that he would welcome Qatari investors in buying Budapest Airport as strategic partners. It is an old desire of Hungary’s strongman to acquire the airport, but the owners do not want to sell it. Or at least they communicate so.

According to airportal.hu, Orbán talked about his plans on a podium talk at this week’s economic forum organised in the Gulf state. He said that even Qatari investors are interested in joining the bargain. The news outlet wrote talks are ongoing, and the Hungarian government would welcome Qatari investors apart from Hungarian ones. Furthermore, they would count on them not only in the buying-out process but also in developing Budapest Airport, one of Europe’s most competitive air gates.

The government has been negotiating with the Canadian, German and Singaporean owners. Based on press information, the deal was closed with a consortium of Hungarian enterprises in 2021. But the partakers postponed the agreement due to the unfavourable international and Hungarian financial situation.

Meanwhile, the owners of the Budapest Airport state they have long-term plans with the hub and would like to invest a lot of money to make their plans come true.

Here is how Qatar will help Hungary

Qatar Mihály Varga

Qatar could play an important role in strengthening Hungary’s energy security, the finance minister said after talks with his Qatari counterpart in Doha.

The finance ministry on Tuesday cited Mihály Varga as saying that similarly to Hungary, Qatar was calling for peace in the Ukraine war as soon as possible and Doha did not support the introduction of sanctions and supplying weapons to warring parties. Qatar has the third largest natural gas reserves in the world, stands at second place in global LNG exports, and carries out developments in extraction and transports, he said.

Economic relations between Hungary and Qatar are getting stronger, with a 15 percent increase in Hungarian exports to Qatar last year at 69 million dollars, and a 24 percent increase in bilateral trade at 76 million dollars, he added. Varga held talks with Qatar National Bank CEO Abdulla Mubarak Al Khalifa, presenting Hungary’s debt management strategy and sharing the experiences from Hungary’s green bonds programme. The sides were in agreement that the current Hungarian prime ministerial visit could give new impetus to Hungarian-Qatari economic relations, the ministry said.

As we wrote before, PM Viktor Orbán is also in Qatar and agreed yesterday that Hungary would buy gas from the Middle-Eastern country.

Orbán departed to an exotic Middle-Eastern country again

Viktor Orbán Russia NATO secret plan PM Orbán

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Sunday morning left on an official visit to Qatar, Orban’s press chief said.

Orbán is visiting Qatar at the invitation of the country’s prime minister and will address the Qatar Economic Forum at the invitation of the emir, Bertalan Havasi told MTI. The prime minister’s delegation will include Finance Minister Mihály Varga and Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy.

Orbán’s talks in Qatar are set to focus on boosting bilateral energy, economic and financial cooperation, exploring new investment opportunities as well as topical global political issues. Hungary’s delegation aims to strengthen the country’s energy security, Havasi said, adding that in respect of the war in Ukraine, it supports a peaceful diplomatic settlement instead of “harmful sanctions and forcing war politics”.

Government: nuclear investments preserve Earth

Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó nuclear Earth

Preserving the Earth for future generations and meeting climate targets is contingent on making investments in nuclear energy and the electric vehicle industry, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a panel discussion on energy affairs in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Green targets – no politics

Hungary’s government aims to maintain a well-balanced approach to investments in energy and environmental protection as both aspects are needed to boost competitiveness, the foreign ministry cited Szijjártó as saying. “We never considered a green deal or green targets as political or ideological issues but ways to protect the planet for future generations,” he said. Instead of seeking to profit from political communications, the international community should prepare well-grounded, pragmatic and realistic strategies, he said. Hungary is one of fewer than twenty countries in the world that has managed in recent years to reduce harmful emissions while boosting economic growth, he said.

Green change realistically – goes the video’s title:

As part of this strategy, Hungary will become climate neutral by 2050, and by expanding nuclear and solar energy capacities, 90 percent of electricity production will become carbon neutral by 2030 as against the current 65 percent, he added. Solar energy capacity will grow from the current 4,500 megawatts to 12,000 megawatts by 2050 and nuclear energy capacity from 2,000 megawatts to 4,400 megawatts, he said. Szijjártó warned that burden-sharing could not be called fair when countries that contribute to climate change the least suffer its consequences the most. The largest polluters should take a much greater role in cutting their emissions, he said.

Abu Dhabi in photos:

Paks nuclear power plant extension helps Earth?

Some 14 percent of global air-polluting emissions are linked to public road transport, he said, adding that there was “no hope” of preserving Earth and climate targets without making the transition to electric vehicles, he said, adding that developed countries must work together on this. Hungary has taken great responsibility in this field as the fourth largest electric battery producer in the world, he said, adding that the country was becoming a meeting point for Eastern and Western companies in the sector. Szijjártó said that nuclear energy was a safe and environmentally friendly method for producing energy, enabling states to become independent of the fluctuations of international markets. The project to add new reactor blocks to the Paks nuclear power station will enable carbon dioxide emissions to be reduced by 17 million tonnes and gas use by 3-3.5 billion cubic metres annually, he added.

Despite all these advantages, further efforts are needed to fight discrimination against nuclear energy in the European Union, he said. Some EU member states, he added, were trying to hinder the ongoing Paks expansion project. Szijjártó said the German government’s refusal to approve an earlier approved deal for Siemens Energy to supply control technology for the Paks plant was “unfair” and “an attack against Hungary’s sovereignty”.

Back to Ukraine: Wizz Air CEO’s baffling plans about Eastern expansion

Wizz Air London Luton

The CEO of the Hungarian low-cost airline, Wizz Air, talked about the company’s plans at a lunch of the English Aviation Club.

Regarding Wizz Air’s return to Ukraine, he said that the Hungarian company would be the first to reenter the marker when the war was over. We wrote before that when the Russian invasion started, Wizz Air had four planes in Ukraine, three in Kyiv, and one in Lviv. Last September, the aircraft in West Ukraine could escape from the war-torn country and flew to Katowice in Poland. However, three Airbuses are still in Kyiv, and it does not seem they will be able to get out soon. Anyway, the company plans to return to the Ukrainian market as soon as the fight is over, Budflyer wrote.

Mr Váradi told his audience in the English Aviation Club that they would expand their fleet with brand new Airbus A321XLR planes from 2024 year-end. But they will not commute from Hungary. Their base will be in the United Kingdom and the Middle East.

József Váradi:

Wizz Air ready to conquer the East instead of the West

He added that the Middle Eastern market is changing, and Wizz Air would like to be part of that. “There are a lot of opportunities to expand in the region and Central Asia”, he highlighted. He said they would like to continue to expand towards the East.

He also mentioned the hardships concerning air traffic. He said this summer would be difficult, but they prepared for the warm season to avoid the high number of cancellations like in 2022. He believes that the biggest challenge of 2023 will be European air traffic control. That is because there is a staff shortage, and capacities are narrow because of the war-caused closures. Furthermore, military air traffic increased, restricting commercial flights.

Read also:

New flight announced between Budapest and Saudi Arabia!

Wizz Air Hungarian airline

Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing and most sustainable airline, has launched its third flight to Saudi Arabia from Budapest, following an announcement in January. The new Middle East destination of Dammam is now available to travellers at an affordable price and without connecting flights.

Tickets for the twice-weekly flight can be purchased via the Wizz Air website and the airline’s app for as little as HUF 7,790.

The airline started the year 2023 with two flights to Saudi Arabia, now adding another exotic destination. Until now, the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and the gateway city of Jeddah have been available, and from today, Dammam is also available.

The airline started the year 2023 with two flights to Saudi Arabia, now adding another exotic destination. Until now, the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh and the gateway city of Jeddah have been available, and from today, Dammam is also available. A dazzling port city on the shores of the Persian Gulf, Dammam is home to a wealth of cultural attractions, museums and architectural masterpieces. Following the discovery of oil, it has now been transformed into a modern metropolis with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a vibrant economy.

The three Saudi flights to Budapest are part of Wizz Air’s ambitious target to fly one million passengers to the country this year. The airline is supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 30 programme, which aims to triple passenger traffic to the country by 2030.

“We are delighted that with the launch of the Dammam flight, our airline now connects Saudi Arabia with Budapest on three routes. Passengers departing from Hungary will now have a more accessible, affordable travel alternative to explore the wonderful cities the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has to offer. The Wizz Air team is excited to welcome passengers on its flights to the city of Dammam!”

said Zsuzsa Trubek, Communications Manager at Wizz Air.

“As the capital of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, Dammam encompasses both the tranquil atmosphere of the Arabian Gulf and its unique, bustling infrastructure. Wizz Air’s flights to this modern metropolis are another fruit of our close cooperation with Saudi Arabia. We have no reason to doubt the success of these routes, as the country is becoming increasingly popular from a tourism perspective,” said Balázs Bogáts, Director of Flight Development at Budapest Airport.

Read also:

Orbán cabinet supports expanding Abraham Accords

Daily News Hungary Logo Új

The Hungarian government supports and calls for expanding the Abraham Accords which normalised Israel’s relations with several Arab states, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after speaking with Eli Kohen, his Israeli counterpart, by phone on Monday.

Based on experience of the past decades, the Accords is the first initiative that can be instrumental in establishing peace in the Middle East, Szijjártó said on Facebook. He added that at the talks initiated by Kohen they had also reviewed the region’s security situation.

“I assured my Israeli colleague that Hungary continues to support a fair and balanced approach to Israel in international forums,”

Szijjártó said.

He said that economic cooperation served the interests of both countries and will be further developed.

They agreed that the Israeli foreign minister would soon pay an official visit to Budapest.

As we wrote before, Hungary could become the first European country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The controversial gesture could lead to diplomatic issues, as apparently it was not approved by the EU, details HERE.

Will Wizz Air fly to this Asian country from Budapest?

Wizz Air Hungary airline Romania

The Hungarian low-cost airline, Wizz Air, has been expanding not only in Central and Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East and Central Asia. Experts say that the budget airline conquered the market of carrying Eastern European guest workers to the West. Furthermore, they aim to connect Europe with Asia as well. It seems they will launch a new flight to an exotic Asian country soon.

Budflyer, a Hungarian travel news Facebook page, wrote yesterday that Wizz Air would like to expand targeting not only India but also New Delhi’s greatest regional adversary, Pakistan. At least, that is what Robert Carey, the president of the Hungarian low-cost airline, talked about at the CAPA Airline Leader conference in Budapest.

Aviation Geeks mentioned in a May 2021 article that József Váradi, the CEO of Wizz Air, headed a delegation paying a visit to Pakistan’s transport minister in Islamabad. Then, they talked about a flight between the Pakistani capital and Budapest. It may happen we will be able to travel from Budapest to India and Pakistan soon.

Anyway, Air France has almost 200 destinations in its summer schedule, turizmus.com wrote. They will operate three flights to Budapest every day in the summer season. Furthermore, KLM will fly five times a day to Hungary. In peak time, Air France will travel to 106 destinations 650 times each day. Among the destinations, there will be countries like Algeria, Morocco, and Kenya and cities like Ottawa (Canada), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Johannesburg (South Africa), and Tokyo (Japan).

We wrote about the summer schedule of Budapest Airport in THIS article. Passengers travelling from Budapest may reach more than 120 destinations, and 40 airlines will serve them. Four will be new in Budapest, with Kuwait Airways and Air Connect.

airport budapest planes
Read alsoMany Budapest flights cancelled due to widespread strike

MEP Gyöngyösi: Iran and Saud Arabia restore diplomatic relations with China lurking in the background

Daily News Hungary Logo Új
 Sponsored content
MEP Márton Gyöngyösi’s (Non-attached) thoughts via press release:

Iranian-Saudi relations could hardly ever be called warm: the two Middle Eastern countries have always been traditional rivals, largely due to the fact that Saudi Arabia is the centre of Sunni Islam, while Iran is the leading Shiite Muslim state. Recent decades have seen the two countries on opposing sides in terms of foreign affairs: while post-revolution Islamic Iran became an opponent of the United States and the western world, Saudi Arabia has long been an integral member of the American alliance (even though human rights are quite far from what Europe or the US are used to).

The relations of the two countries turned even sourer in the 2010s, as a result of the oppression and attacks affecting Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority as well as the confrontations of Riyadh and Tehran in the theatres of the Yemen war. 

In light of all that, it was a huge achievement for Chinese diplomacy to have the two sides sit at the same table and, even more importantly, open embassies in each other’s capitals.

The agreement will clearly bolster stability in the Middle East. However, this stability now has China in the background, which is an important aspect to consider. Although the western world was able to demonstrate an exemplary unity against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, a united (and functional) European foreign policy remains a distant utopia when it comes to other geopolitical regions. Fully aware of that, China keeps increasing its presence in the third world.

The question is: will Europe understand the risk of letting other powers, in this case China, gradually take over dominance in other areas of the world?

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.

Big concert to be held in Budapest to support earthquake victims

concert-crowd-people-joy-summer

A big concert will be held to support victims of the Türkiye-Syria earthquake on March 22 at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest, where well-known performers of world music, early music and other genres will play, the Hungarian Interchurch Aid said on Thursday.

Performers at the concert will include the Kaláka, Sebő, Misztrál, Vujicsics and Musica Historica bands, Andás Berecz, Mária Petrás, and Márta Sebestyén, among others.

More than a month after the disaster, staff of the Hungarian Interchurch Aid are still working in Hatay, the Turkish province worst affected by the earthquake. Surveys by the Hungarian charity and their international partner organisations show that the need for help is still enormous, with more than a million people still living in emergency accommodation.

  • Read also:

Here is their Facebook post:

Humanitarian help arrives to Türkiye thanks to the Hungarian Interchurch Aid:

Minister: Hungarian government not Kremlin propagandist, only voices pragmatism

szijjártó brussels

Restoring pragmatic cooperation between East and West is a national security interest for Hungary because whenever there was a conflict between the two blocks, central Europe has always suffered from it, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.

Restoring East-West cooperation national security interest

The ministry cited Szijjártó as saying at a podium discussion organised by the Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade that the existing political and economic world order had recently fallen apart. As a result, the basis for Europe’s economic development, the combination of advanced western technologies and cheap Russian energy resources, has been lost, he added. Nobody knows if the ties currently being cut can be restored in the future, and Eurasian cooperation seems less realistic now, with the armed conflict in Ukraine and the war rhetoric, he said.

“We believed in a future where good cooperation can exist between regional integrations and in a global order where the West and the East can work together in a pragmatic and civilised manner,” he added. Experience from history shows that Hungary and central Europe have always lost out on conflicts between East and West. “We are arguing in support of restoring cooperation because it is a core national security interest and not because we are someone’s spy,” he said.

Hungarian government: a voice of pragmatism

Even before the war in Ukraine, European discourse had been excessively focused on ideology and politics, he said. Already at that time, it was difficult to negotiate based on pragmatism and common sense, and the armed conflict has further deteriorated the situation, he added. When someone uses a voice of pragmatism and common sense, they are immediately accused of breaking the unity of the EU and NATO, and even representing Russia and the Kreml’s propaganda, he said. There are three issues that could bring overall changes in order to find real solutions to the existing challenges, he added.

The first is a return to mutual respect in international relations, which has been fully missing in recent times, Szijjártó said. The second is for everyone to understand that ideological and political approaches must not overrule physical realities, he said. The third is whether channels of communication can be kept open between the opponents, he added. Regarding the latter, he said efforts by Türkiye were especially important because they helped resolve the problem of Ukrainian grain exports. Hungary’s success depends on how much it can be integrated in the international economy, primarily in its export performance and attracting foreign investments, he added.

Hungary has a vested interest in a strong European Union, with around 80 percent of Hungarian exports directed to other member states, he said. This is also the reason why the government is actively participating in the disputes concerning the community’s future, he added. Dominant political ideologies only weaken the block and the notion of a Unites States of Europe is a dead-end street, he said. A strong EU must be based on strong member states that proudly represent their own cultural, historical and religious roots, he added.

Szijjártó meets Bahrein counterpart

The foreign minister met Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, his Bahraini counterpart, for talks in Budapest on Tuesday. At a joint press conference after the meeting, Szijjártó highlighted that the visit was the first to Hungary by a Bahraini foreign minister. Concerning the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó said Hungary and Bahrein were in agreement on the position that the war should end as soon as possible. “We want peace before this regional war with global impacts develops into a global war. We all would like to avoid that,” he said, adding that Hungary and Bahrein supported settling the conflict through talks.

Szijjártó welcomed the earlier signing by Bahrain of the Abraham Accords normalising relations with Israel. Regarding bilateral economic cooperation, Szijjártó noted that the Hungarian-Bahraini joint economic committee held its inaugural meeting in 2022 and reached an agreement on energy cooperation in the framework of which Hungarian oil and gas company MOL is bringing two types of technologies to Bahrain. The Hungarian foreign minister presented to Al Zayani the Hungarian Order of Merit, Middle Cross, for arranging the issue of documentation to Hungary on the Sinopharm Covid vaccine during the pandemic.

mma, fight, world cup
Read alsoFinally! Hungarian WMMA fighter crowned world champion in Bahrain