Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, held talks in Cairo at the beginning of April to discuss joint telecommunication projects, fighting for peace, and stopping illegal migration.
Flourishing Economic Cooperation
Péter Szijjártó declared: ‘An agreement has now been reached that Hungary’s largest telecommunications company will build the optical cable system connecting Egypt with Europe. This 2,800 km undersea cable will provide high-speed digital and internet connectivity between Europe and Egypt, and the optical network that will bring internet access to another 6 million Egyptian households will also be built using Hungarian technology.’
At the opening of the Hungarian–Egyptian Business Forum, the Hungarian minister emphasized that despite the severe challenges companies have faced due to recent crises, bilateral trade and economic cooperation have been highly successful. He welcomed the agreement between Europe and Egypt on constructing an optical cable by the Hungarian company 4iG.
‘Despite the severe challenges companies have faced due to recent crises, bilateral trade and economic cooperation have been successful’
Egypt is one of Hungary’s most important economic partners in Africa, highlighted Péter Szijjártó. As an example of the successful cooperation between the two countries, he mentioned that the Hungarian railway vehicle manufacturing industry received its largest-ever international order from the North African country, worth 1.1 billion euros. Hungary thus delivered 1,350 railway cars to Egypt.
The Hungarian minister praised the Hungarian–Egyptian partnership at a time of uncertainty in the global economic situation. According to him, the relations between the two states are stable, reliable, predictable, and based on mutual respect. The lack of political disputes between the two countries also facilitates cooperation between their business actors. Thus, Péter Szijjártó arrived on his trip with 21 Hungarian business leaders, including those in the fields of agriculture, food industry, construction, information technology, and water management.
The two countries’ future cooperation was also discussed during the negotiations, including a project to produce secure identification documents and Hungary’s contribution to developing Egypt’s food and water management sectors. Péter Szijjártó emphasized that, as electricity demand increases significantly in rapidly growing economies like Hungary and Egypt, comprehensive energy cooperation between the two countries’ energy companies is essential. As a result, Hungary decided to build three new gas power plants, and one of these will be developed by a Hungarian–Egyptian consortium at a value of 700 million euros. Also, there are discussions about incorporating highly advanced Hungarian technologies into constructing the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt.
The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted Hungary’s contribution to facilitating the Egyptian people’s education opportunities. He mentioned that more than seven hundred Egyptian students are studying at Hungarian universities. The Hungarian government is working to improve connectivity. Although there are already ten weekly flights between Hungary and Egypt, increasing the number would be important.
Mutual Fight for Peace in Europe
Péter Szijjártó also emphasized the similarity between Hungary and Egypt, as the two countries are in regions facing significant security challenges. The Hungarian minister gave thanks to Egypt for its fight against terrorist groups, people smuggling networks, and extremist ideologies and for stopping the mass illegal migration to Europe. Szijjártó also expressed his thanks to Cairo for assisting the evacuation of Hungarians living in the Gaza Strip in the months and for its work in releasing the hostages held by Hamas. ‘There is still one Hungarian hostage, hopefully alive, and we are praying for his return home to this day, and we hope that a situation can be created here in the Middle East as soon as possible, where the kidnapped hostages can all return home to their families,’ the Hungarian minister said.
‘Szijjártó also expressed his thanks to Cairo for assisting the evacuation of Hungarians living in the Gaza Strip’
Related to the migration crisis, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade elaborated that while it has been proven in the past decade that illegal migration poses a significant danger to Europe’s security, Brussels encourages and supports illegal migration. The minister called on Brussels to stop supporting migration and obstructing the peace negotiations.
As the main bastion of the North African defence line, Egypt keeps the influx of people; the European Union should appreciate the country’s role in maintaining European security. ‘It is absurd that while Hungary and Egypt are fighting together for peace in Europe and to stop illegal migration, Brussels is pursuing an irresponsible policy and making increasingly serious mistakes,’ Péter Szijjártó said in Cairo. ‘We call on the European institutions to give Egypt the promised four billion euros of aid without delay, and not to set artificial political and ideological conditions for the payments,’ he added.
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