A Hungarian military contingent, including reservists, is starting a six-month mission to train Iraq’s armed forces. The 139 soldiers were seen off by relatives and military leaders in a ceremony on Wednesday in the main square of Nyíregyhaza, in north-east Hungary.
This is the first contingent to include a large (41-strong) group of reservists, Gábor Gion, the defence ministry’s state secretary for strategic planning, noted in his speech at the ceremony.
“Operational duties are an important part of Hungarian diplomatic, security and defence policy; the Armed Forces are participating in numerous missions – together with NATO, the European Union and the United Nations – and our coalition partners see us as reliable allies,” Gion said.
Hungarian tax and customs authority NAV on Monday said it has signed a cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia’s tax and customs authority.
The agreement was signed in Budapest by NAV chief Ferenc Vágújhelyi and the head of the Saudi Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, Suhail bin Mohammed Abanmi, NAV told MTI.
The two authorities agreed on the framework of their cooperation with regard to tax adjustment, information sharing, the organisation of seminars, work visits and joint projects.
NAV also shared with the Saudi authority its experiences with the integration of Hungary’s tax and customs authorities, its innovations concerning customs control, digitalisation solutions and results, the statement said.
In addition to peace in Ukraine, preserving the stability of areas surrounding Europe is highly important for Hungary, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday after talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
He said on Facebook that Iran’s role had changed and the country’s importance had grown as a consequence of crises that developed on “this part of the world”. This is demonstrated by the talks on the nuclear agreement and the Russian-Turkish-Iranian summit held in Tehran in recent days, he added.
“On this part of the world, we are facing a serious food and energy supply crisis, and Iran playing a constructive role could help resolve them,” he added. “Hungary supports talks on enabling nuclear cooperation and Ukraine grain exports,” he added.
Szijjártó told his Iranian counterpart that “for us, being a neighbourly country, the war in Ukraine is very bad, we want peace because unless peace arrives soon, the war will have increasingly tragic consequences”.
The food crisis threatens the stability of several areas in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, resulting in the threat of severe migratory pressure, Szijjártó said.
Bilateral cooperation between Iran and Hungary has developed significantly in the recent period thanks to some 2,000 Iranian students attending Hungarian universities, he said.
Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister,Péter Szijjártó talked about the country’s plans to protect Hungarians after a C5 (Czechia, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia) meeting. He said that Hungary had finalised plans provided the front reached Subcarpathia, and the Russian invasion endangered Hungarian lives.
According to blikk.hu, the foreign minister emphasised the importance of peace on the eastern front. That is the option to evade dangerous scenarios drafted to enable Hungary to protect the 150,000 Hungarians living in Subcarpathia. Szijjártó said that Hungaryq mitigating the chances to be dragged into the war.
He added that there were enough sanctions and the West should concentrate on peace or at least a ceasefire. Just like any country suffering from the war in its neighbourhood, Hungary had to prepare for self-defence. Hungary has prepared for various war scenarios,
taking soldiers out of the southern border defence units are part of those plans.
He highlighted he did not consider it likely that the war in Ukraine would end soon.
He also said that Hungary proposed Budapest to be the venue for the peace talks. On Zelenskiy and his criticism of the Hungarian government, Szijjártó commented that the Ukrainian president looked out for the Ukrainian’s best interest. That is dragging as many countries into the armed conflict as possible. If not otherwise, by arms deliveries. However, the Hungarian government represents the Hungarians’ interests. Therefore, it would like to remain out of the war.
Hungary’s government is in talks to import 700,000,000 more cubic metres of natural gas beyond the volumes specified in the country’s long-term gas purchase agreements with a view to boosting energy security, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Friday.
The government is negotiating the gas purchases with both western and eastern partners, Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference he held jointly with Gebran Bassil, the head of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement. Szijjártó said he hoped to be able to go into more detail about the outcomes of the talks next week.
The minister said that in 2020, market players had tried to talk him out of long-term gas purchase agreements saying that gas supplies would be secure without them. Szijjártó added that because he had always maintained that Hungary’s energy security was a strategic and national security issue, the government had decided to sign long-term gas supply deals with both Shell and Russia’s Gazprom.
“If we hadn’t made those deals, the country would be in major trouble right now because Europe’s natural gas spot market has dried up in this time of war,” Szijjártó said, adding that thanks to the long-term agreements, Hungary’s energy supply was on a secure footing.
However, Hungary must be prepared for potential energy supply disruptions in Western Europe, hence, the country must stockpile as much gas as possible, he said. That was the reason why, he added, Hungary had decided to increase its gas imports beyond the volumes specified in the long-term gas supply deals. Szijjártó said Gazprom had been a reliable supplier so far and it was clear that the southern gas delivery route was the most predictable. He noted at the same time that Hungary had built the infrastructure needed to link the country to the Turkish Stream pipeline despite “everyone trying to get Hungary to do otherwise”.
“Had that infrastructure not been developed, we’d be in huge trouble”, the minister said. He argued that half of the 32,600,000 cubic metres of gas that flowed into Hungary on Friday had arrived via the southern delivery route. “So most of the Russian gas comes from the south, while we only get one-third of the contracted volume from the west,” he said. Hungary will therefore also negotiate to divert the gas deliveries it would get from the west to the southern route, he added.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said the war and the related sanctions on Russia had created an inflationary environment in Europe.
But the war also affects other parts of the world and the migration crisis will likely be more severe than ever before, Szijjártó warned. He argued that falling food and grain exports would lead to serious supply disruptions in parts of the world that were already unstable. He said the “disastrous consequences” threatening Europe could only be prevented by achieving peace as soon as possible, urging “those with power on the international stage” should do all they can in the interest of peace.
Szijjártó noted that there are some 1,500,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and Lebanon had sourced 80 percent of its wheat supply and 90 percent of its cooking oil supply from Ukraine and Russia. This, he said, made Lebanon a “powder keg” that could set off a major migration wave towards Europe if peace was not achieved.
Meanwhile, he said that besides energy security, the key to Hungary’s physical security was keeping out “the
armed migrant gangs that have besieged our southern borders”.
In such a situation, the international political world, too, should be focusing on preventing the emergence of migration waves and helping countries that look after a lot of migrants, Szijjártó said. Hungary is one of those countries, he said, noting that it has given the Lebanese Christian communities millions of dollars in the recent period for the construction of churches and offered university degrees to 50 students each year.
Bassil said Hungary had always stood by Lebanon when it faced difficult times. He said the Hungary Helps humanitarian scheme was proof of the aid Hungary had provided, adding that his party aimed to boost ties with Hungary’s ruling Fidesz. Concerning migration, he said Syrian migrants could start gradually returning to their home country, which should be encouraged.
Food shortages resulting from the war in Ukraine and the growing threat of terrorism is expected to put Europe under greater migration pressure than ever before, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Madrid on Thursday.
Speaking after a NATO summit, Szijjártó said the meeting’s final session covered security challenges to the south of Europe. The minister said the Islamic State terrorist group had recently ordered its followers to take advantage of the focus on Ukraine and carry out attacks in Europe. He noted the recent terrorist attacks in north Africa and the Far East.
This situation is further aggravated by the looming global food shortage stemming from the war in Ukraine, which could cause a fall in the food supply of Middle Eastern and African countries that are already bordering on instability, Szijjártó said.
This critical food shortage will lead to a rise in extremism and the threat of terrorism, which are root causes of migration, leading to a “brutal increase” in migration pressure,
he added.
Szijjártó noted that the Hungarian authorities apprehended over 100,000 illegal migrants on the country’s southern border so far this year. Meanwhile, Hungary is seeing an influx of people fleeing the war in Ukraine from the east, all of whom are being allowed into the country, he added. “We have accepted more than 800,000 refugees from Ukraine while we have stopped 100,000 illegal migrants on the southern border, which we will continue to do,” Szijjártó said.
Hungary is committing “a huge amount of resources” to ensuring that Europe’s external borders are well protected, he said. “We we’re not really getting any external assistance but we are protecting our border nevertheless,” he added. Szijjártó said NATO also had a role to play in this area, noting that it had to support countries like Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, whose stability was critical to the protection of the alliance’s member states.
The minister said he will travel this afternoon to Istanbul, where he is scheduled to discuss the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant with the leaders of Russia’s Rosatom on Friday.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Friday said he had held phone talks with Gebran Bassil, the head of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement, and Hassoumi Massoudou, his Nigerian counterpart.
Szijjártó said in a Facebook post that he had congratulated Bassil on Lebanon’s successful elections and on his party remaining the largest Christian bloc in the Beirut parliament. Lebanon’s stability and security is crucial for peace in the Middle East, Szijjártó said, adding that
the local Christian community could continue to count on Hungary’s support when it comes to the renovation of churches and schools.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó discussed the importance of the security of West Africa’s Sahel region with his Nigerian counterpart.
“If things aren’t going well there then masses of immigrants will set off towards Europe,”
“Hungary is committed to helping establish and maintain security in the region, in the interest of our own security and calm as well,” he said.
Szijjártó also said the planned European mission in Mali had been rendered impossible, even though the Hungarian Armed Forces would have contributed 80 soldiers to it.
He added that he and Massoudou had discussed other ways Hungary could contribute to the region’s security. Massoudou welcomed the offer and the two countries will discuss the details of their cooperation in the future, Szijjártó said.
Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest-growing and greenest airline, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is supported by the Saudi National Air Connectivity Programme. The agreement aims to explore market development opportunities in the country’s aviation industry, says Helló Magyar.
Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious strategic vision with the Vision 2030 programme, which aims to triple the country’s passenger traffic by the end of the decade. This target offers unprecedented opportunities for airlines and the aviation supply chain.
Wizz Air’s innovative and sustainable ultra-low-cost model has a proven track record of developing markets by making flying more affordable for a wider range of people than ever before.
The MoU reflects the potential of working with Wizz Air and the potential growth in demand that could contribute significantly to the economic prosperity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Following the agreement,
the parties will work on potential investment and operational models that will promote air transport in Saudi Arabia, boosting the country’s tourism and significantly increasing its connectivity.
Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing low-cost airline, currently operates a fleet of 154 Airbus A320, A321, A320neo, and A321neo aircraft with an average age of five years.
Wizz Air was recently named one of the 10 safest low-cost airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com, which evaluates the safety and service of airlines worldwide, and was named Airline of the Year 2020 at the Air Transport Awards, the only international awards ceremony to recognise the best in the airline industry in all major categories.
The airline was named the most sustainable company in the airline industry by World Finance Magazine in 2021.
Amid challenges linked to the war in Ukraine, “continued security challenges in the neighbourhood of the European Union must not be neglected”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Tuesday on the sidelines of an international donor conference in support of Syria.
Speaking to Hungarian journalists, Szijjártó called for efforts to prevent the EU from having to face multiple security challenges should it fail to handle problems in the Middle East or north Africa.
Europe must do everything possible to avoid further waves of mass migration,
he said, arguing that the EU should “not promote migration” but help create conditions locally whereby residents are not forced to leave their homelands. Hungary supports and will contribute to European programmes aimed at creating such conditions and helping refugees return to their homelands, he added.
At the conference, Hungary offered a total 1,085 one-year university scholarships to students from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq worth a combined 3.3 billion forints (EUR 8.7m), the minister said.
Currently nine Hungarian development projects worth a combined 6.3 billion forints are being implemented in Syria and in countries accommodating Syrian refugees, he added. The programmes are aimed at renewing and running hospitals, helping schools and promoting job creation, he said.
On another subject, Szijjártó said the government rejected “any attempt to compare refugees from Ukraine and illegal migrants [arriving in Hungary] from the south”. Hungary will accommodate all refugees fleeing Ukraine but it strictly protects its borders from illegal entrants, he said.
“As opposed to Ukrainian refugees, illegal migrants have no right to enter Hungary because they have already crossed dozens of safe countries,” the minister said.
The Hungarian state’s cargo plane is set to enter into commercial service between Budapest and Doha following “intensive negotiations” with Qatar Airways, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Saturday.
The Airbus A330-200F plane, acquired after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic to help ship health-care supplies, recently began commercial operation between Budapest and Chengdu in China, Szijjártó noted in a post on Facebook.
The addition of the new route means that
“the cargo plane owned by the state of Hungary, operated by a Hungarian carrier, maintained by a Hungarian company and supported by Hungarian ground service will now be in commercial service in the Middle East alongside its flights to Asia,”
he said.
Szijjártó noted that just over two years ago it became clear to the world that “those who buy time can save lives”.
“When the pandemic first hit, not only was there a severe shortage of masks, ventilators and other protective equipment, but once these were procured there was a question of how and when they could be delivered here,” the minister said.
“We made a clear strategic decision to build our own readily deployable air transport capacities so that Hungary and its supplies would not be affected by the global supply chain challenges,”
Szijjártó said. This was why Hungary procured the Airbus A330-200F cargo plane which has been used to ship some 6.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to the country, he added.
The bodyguard of a Dubai millionaire collapsed without any pre-existing health conditions. The ambulance fought for the life of the 45-year-old man for more than an hour. However, he would not have had a chance if it had not been for the Dubai millionaire he worked for.
The National Ambulance Service reported about the incident on their Facebook page. They wrote that the Dubai millionaire was in Hungary during the weekend. The purpose of his stay was to take part in a business negotiation. However, the meeting had to be interrupted because his 45-year-old bodyguard suddenly collapsed. Furthermore, the ambulance service wrote on their Facebook page that the bodyguard was in good health and had no preliminary conditions.
Ambulance said that the Middle Eastern businessman probably had some medical knowledge since he immediately offered first aid to the man. He quickly determined that the 45-year-old man did not breathe and began CPR.
Meanwhile, his business partners called the ambulance which arrived on the spot within minutes. They struggled for the life of the man for more than an hour. However, thanks to the immediately started CPR, they were successful. The combined effort managed to save his life.
Finally, they transported the bodyguard to the hospital in stable condition. The Dubai millionaire thanked the National Ambulance Service on Monday in an email addressed to the general director.
Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, has sent a letter congratulating Viktor Orbán on his Fidesz party’s landside win in Sunday’s general election.
Herzog called Hungary “a friend and ally of Israel”, the prime minister’s press chief said in a statement on Thursday. The president wrote that Hungary and Israel were bound by “valuable and friendly relations”.
He also referred to spirited Hungarian culture in Israel and the “deep-rooted and significant role” of the Jewish community in Hungary’s past and present.
Herzog praised the Hungarian prime minister’s “staunch solidarity” with Israel, and thanked Hungary for “always standing by Israel in international forums”.
Hungary, he added, was considered an “unshakable ally and friend”.
Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Damascus, on Thursday thanked in Budapest the Hungarian government for the help granted to persecuted Christians.
Nalbandian said the government’s help was important in Syria where after ten years of war and in the midst of an economic crisis, efforts are under way to rebuild destroyed churches and schools.
He said his main task was to preserve families’ faith and to help them remain in their place of birth.
He asked for further support to launch new programmes.
Tristan Azbej, state secretary in charge of assistance to persecuted Christians and the Hungary Helps programme, said that Hungary’s humanitarian aid scheme had been launched five years ago and it has provided support to over half a million people in over fifty countries since. Victims of the war in Ukraine were in focus in the past month but Christians in the Middle East have always been highlighted recipients of support, he added.
He said he met Nalbandian to review the results achieved so far and the current situation of Christians in the Middle East where efforts must be made to enable them to stay in their place of birth despite the war and the ongoing persecution of Christians.
Although the two countries are 2,000 kilometres apart, there are many similarities. Of course, differences can also be discovered. Here are some examples of these similarities and differences.
Baths – Similarity
Although Azerbaijan is the country of fire, there is a long tradition of spas, a part of the Muslim cleansing culture. In Budapest, in the Hungarian capital, you can find the recently reopened Veli Bej, as well as the Rudas and Király baths. While in Baku, HamamBath, Taze Bey Baths, and Almaz Qadin Klubu are popular places. It is interesting that
the population of Azerbaijan is around 10 million people, same as Hungary’s.
In addition, examining the capitals, we can state that both Baku and Budapest have about 2 million inhabitants.
Transport – Difference
In Hungary, we often think that the traffic is crazy. Especially in Budapest, traffic jams are common. However, Azerbaijan’s main export is oil, so the country has very cheap fuel. As a result, everyone is driving. Even though 8 or even 10-lane roads have been built, this is not enough for the amount of traffic. Everyone is trying to get to their destination on time, so the lanes easily fill up. This can be strange to the Hungarian eye, but the locals are driving their car in the safest way in this orderly chaos.
History – Similarity
There are geographical similarities between the two countries, and it was not only the Turks who appeared in the history of both countries. One of the most significant points in Hungarian history is the Trianon Peace Treaty of 1920. As a result, millions of Hungarians have been living outside Hungary ever since. In the lives of the Azerbaijanians, the peace treaty ending the 1828 Russian–Persian wars is similar. Azerbaijanian people believe that
50 million of their Azeri compatriots live outside the country.
Of these, 30 million live in Iran. In addition, the Soviet Union and Russia had a great influence on the past and present of both countries.
Azerbaijan has a long tradition of soups. One of their famous soups is the dushbara, which has noodles stuffed with minced lamb. Also,
you should not miss the different homemade breads and the real, authentic Azerbaijani kebabs.
Their famous dish is dolma, which is minced meat stuffed into grape leaves. They also make stuffed tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. The latter is a popular dish in Hungary as well, even though the method of preparation differs significantly from the recipe of the Azeri version.
There is an old tradition of consuming tea in the country. A tea session is essential after every meal. In addition to hot tea poured into special glasses, it is customary to consume sugar cubes or other hard candies. An interesting tradition is Şirin çay. When the engaged couple’s parents first meet, and the girl’s parents give sweet tea to the boy’s parents, it means giving their blessing to the union.
Loving sports – Similarity
Like Hungary, various sports are popular in Azerbaijan. Of course, football is also the most popular here. In addition to the national team, the Qarabağ Futbol Klub team may be familiar to many, as they often get into one of the European Cup series. It is not only football that is popular, but they are also at the forefront in chess and wrestling.
Azerbaijan has seven Olympic champions.
When it comes to sports, we cannot miss the Formula One race in Baku, organised since 2016.
Other curiosities include the fact that the Azerbaijani language is agglutinating, just like the Hungarian language. That is, the suffix comes at the end of the word. We have several words in common, such as ‘alma’ (apple), and ‘szakál’ (beard).
The situation in the Middle East is a key issue for Hungary for several reasons, including regional security and migration waves, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said in New York on Wednesday. If trends point towards stability, peace and tranquility in the region, there is a lesser likelihood for new waves of migration to start, Szijjártó said before a UN Security Council debate over the situation in the Middle East.
“Instability or wartime situations obviously trigger waves of migration,” he said, adding that migrants tended to choose Europe as their destination.
Szijjártó noted that Israel is Hungary’s strategic ally and the Hungarian government had always taken a stand for Israel’s right to self-defence. The minister called on the international community to make it clear that it stands on Israel’s side and admits that that country is exposed to grave threats of terror, and that terrorist organisations and terrorists should be called by their name.
“We always regret to see some UN committees, bodies and member states pursuing expressly anti-Israel policies, and adopting unfair, one-sided positions on Israel,”
he said, adding that Hungary favoured a balanced approach.
Over the past few decades, Szijjártó said, almost all Middle East peace plans failed,
only the Abraham Accords initiated during Donald Trump’s presidency seemed to be viable.
On this score, the minister stressed the need for as many Arab states as possible to normalise their relations with Israel.
The situation in the Middle East is all the more important because Hungary, as a Christian state for over a thousand years, feels responsibility for Christian communities in that region, he said.
“Several Christian communities are being persecuted in the Middle East, a situation for which the United Nations should carry part of the blame,”
he said. Concerning President Joe Biden’s administration, Szijjártó said that Hungary’s relations with the United States had been the best during Donald Trump’s term, but Hungary always respects the decisions of the partner countries’ citizens.
“Unfortunately, our open approach to this issue is not always reciprocated on this side of the ocean,”
he said. “Hungary always strives for the best possible relations with the elected US administration. Our political positions, however, are not always identical. To be more precise, they are rarely identical,” Szijjártó said.
The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is spending hundreds of millions of forints on the Turk Council. Hungary is also paying for the new garden of the Ybl Villa donated to the Turk Council.
Hungarian headquarters of the Turk Council
In 2016, the Hungarian state bought the Ybl Villa for 1.4 billion forints (€ 3.9 million). The 800-square-metre, three-storey villa was first intended for the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
The Hungarian government gave the villa to the Turk Council in 2019.
The Turk Council can use the property located in the 2nd district of Budapest. The Organisation of Turk States includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey. Hungary has had observer status in the Council since 2018.
The Hungarian state is financing the entire budget of the Ybl Square Villa.
However, with the exception of fire emergency and disaster, no Hungarian authority may enter the premises without permission. The budget of the property also includes maintenance, operation, and the salaries of the employees, which are paid by all Hungarian taxpayers, writes rtl.hu. The Foreign Ministry believes that the office of the Turk Council did not receive any special treatment. It has the same rights as the Hungarian headquarters of any other international organisation.
The government will renovate the garden of the Ybl Villa
The government will completely renovate the 9,077-square-metre garden of the Ybl Villa.
The renovation will cost more than 250 million forints (€ 695,000).
However, the final amount may be even higher. After all, this does not include the special elements of the visual designs. Plans include a “Wonder Deer Garden Willow Sculpture Installation”, the “Yurt of Our Lady” and a real “Fairy Garden”, writes telex.hu.
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
Photo: Elektronikus Közbeszerzési Rendszer (Electronic Procurement System)
They will also set up three event venues.
“We plan the individual beds, patches of plants, and groups of trees so that the visitor cannot see the whole park from the terrace of the villa building at the same time, but as the walkway passes along, new sights constantly make the garden exciting for them. The seemingly natural landscape garden is in fact made according to very strict invisible planning principles in the background: the terrace and footpath network correspond to the Fibonacci sequence,” they write.
The government’s Hungary Helps programme has assisted 500,000 people worldwide during the past 5 years, Tristan Azbej, state secretary in charge of the scheme to help persecuted Christian communities, told public television M1 late on Wednesday.
The programme not only helped persecuted people stay in their homeland, but “sometimes it was successful in reversing migration”, the state secretary said. He noted that some 1,000 families returned to Syria with Hungarian assistance. He also added that Syria’s Christian community, which used to number 2.3 million people before the civil war, has now shrunken to less than one million.
Azbej said that although there was no more fighting over the larger part of Syria,
residents suffered from an economic collapse and deep poverty.
Many have left the country but local Christians cling to their homeland, which is among the oldest sites of Christianity.
The sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival, a premier global event dedicated to celebrating the art of photography, will host 57 of the world’s leading photographers who will showcase their unique works that demonstrate the breadth of contemporary image-making and storytelling and reflects their exceptional experiences and adventures.
Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB),the festival, which will be held over seven days, from February 9 to 15 at Expo Centre Sharjah, will host individual and group art exhibitions by photographers from countries around the world, as well as an integrated programme of inspirational talks, training and educational workshops to suit skillsets of varied age groups. In addition, portfolio reviews will be conducted by accomplished, award-winning photographers.
Candid and posed portraits and images of daily life captured with the technical brilliance of composition and technique are a hallmark of the images that will be on display at Xposure 2022.
the week-long festival this year will present Magnum member Steve McCurry, whose body of work covers conflict, as well as ancient traditions and cultures. His iconic ‘Afghan Girl’ portrait taken in 1985 had captured the story of a country, its people, and refugees across the world.
Visitors can also view the works of multi-award winning Biljana Jurukovski from Macedonia whose images create discussions about different cultures and respect for traditions; Chris Rainier, who has committed himself to documenting traditional societies who live on the margins of the natural world; Daniel Kordan, a landscape and travel photographer from Russia famed for his breathtaking landscapes; and the stunning documentary images of George Georgiou, a British photojournalist.
Other noted artists featured include Gonçalo Fonseca, a documentary photographer from Lisbon, Portugal, who sheds light on under-reported issues and Jordan Hammond, whose modern style of travel photography mixes diverse cultures, colour, light and landscapes; while Vineet Vohra, a self-taught photographer and London-based Alan Schaller who specialises in black and white photography, will share their passion for street photography.
Tariq Zaidi, who documents social issues and inequality within various societies across the globe, and Vidhyaa Chandramohan, a photojournalist who focuses on stories on women and culture in the UAE, will also be at the 2022 edition of Xposure.
Photo: Xposure International Photography Festival
Several internationally recognised nature and wildlife photographers will showcase compelling stories through their works in this popular and versatile genre at Expo Centre Sharjah.
American photographer Joel Sartore, founder of The Photo Ark, whose works focus on conservation photography will showcase images of his ongoing project that documents some of the most endangered creatures left on Earth; while Michel Rawicki who has been documenting the changing landscape of the North and South poles will offer great insights into a region that is at the heart of climate change.
On exhibit will be works of Aaron Gekoski, an award-winning environmental photojournalist specialising in human-animal conflict; Belgian photographer Alain Schroeder who has drawn attention to critically endangered species like the orangutans; and Lurie Belegurschi, who has captured the power, majesty and vulnerability of the spectacular landscapes of the Arctic Region.
Other photographers featured in this category include Levon Biss, best known for his extreme macro work; Mogens Trolle, Danish mammal researcher turned wildlife photographer and the winner of the Animal Portraits category of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 competition; and Jasper Doest, a National Geographic contributor whose visual stories explore the relationship between humankind and nature.
Six photographers specialising in underwater environments to turn the spotlight on marine conservation includes Brian Skerry, David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes, Jeffrey Garriock,Daryl Owen, and Laurent Ballesta.
Xposure 2022 will feature several award-winning photographers who bring out the dynamism of buildings and urban architecture with carefully conceived shots that strike a balance between composition and geometry.
Andrew Prokos, a New York City-based fine art photographer and a master of long-exposure photography will showcase his finely detailed images that incorporate architectural elements and sweeping natural and urban views; UAE-based Sajin Sasidharan will showcase his knowledge of composition, light and natural elements in his black and white photography; and Steven Brooke, an active participant in historic preservation, will draw attention to the principles of composition and artistic integrity that have guided his work.
Majid Abdalla Al Bastaki, an architectural photographer born and raised in Sharjah, will showcase images that capture the culture, art and beauty of the emirate while Iwan Baan captures the many ways people shape their shared built environment — from high-architecture to handmade homes.
Prominent photojournalists who examine the human experience through the lens of their unique personal vision, skills, and technique, include James Nachtwey, an American photographer who documents wars and critical social issues; Muhammed Muheisen, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner who has been highlighting the refugee crisis around the world; Omar Havana, Spanish photojournalist; Jana Andert, Czech photographer and filmmaker who focuses on conflict zones and humanitarian issues; and Kiran Ridley, whose reportage work is primarily concerned with issues of migration, human rights and political representation.
Sergey Ponomarev, whose works have depicted the European refugee crisis as well as wars and conflicts in the Middle East; Debi Cornwall, a conceptual documentary artist and filmmaker; Diego IbarraSánchez, a documentary photographer based in Lebanon; Bangladesh-based Ibrahim Iqbal, who has won more than 300 awards at the national and international levels; and Frank Fournier, a deeply humanistic photographer who has produced extraordinary work on the civil war in Lebanon, will also be at Xposure 2022.
A host of accomplished artists will be part of Xposure 2022 to convey stories and emotions through a range of workshops and seminars that discuss their works depicting landscapes, portraits, culture, food, cities, towns, and more, from varied geographical locations from around the globe. Prominent photographers who have captured and documented the essence of a distant place in a single frame include, amongst others, Chris Coe, Andrew Semark, Elia Locardi, and David Newton.
Other participating photographers include America’s most iconic photographer Stephen Wilkes, who is widely recognised for his fine art, editorial and commercial work; Slovenian fine art photographer photographer Beno Saradzic; Egyptian Syrian astrophotographer Samy Al Olabi; motorcycle journalist Neale Bayly; accomplished media expert Aidan J Sullivan, commercial photographer Mike Browne; successor to the Surrealist photographic tradition, Spanish artist García de Marina; Colin Hawkins, who specialises in people and product photography; and Ray Wells, the Sunday Times Picture Editor.
Robin Morgan, founder and CEO of Iconic Images of London and Los Angeles; Kathy Moran, National Geographic Deputy Director of Photography; Whitney Johnson, Vice President of Visual and Immersive Experiences at National Geographic; Luca Venturi, Founder and Art Director of the Siena International Photo Awards and of the Drone Photo Awards; and Lars Boering, founder of Triggertale.com – a platform for visual communication, are amongst the other prominent names participating in Xposure 2022.
The Hungarian pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai has attracted 400,000 visitors since the fair opened in October, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) said on Wednesday.
The 400,000th visitor was a member of a family visiting from Abu Dhabi. The pavilion, dubbed Aqua Roots of Hungary, showcases water, a resource in which Hungary is rich. It is the largest wooden structure in the entire Persian Gulf region.
