Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary is ready to build mutually beneficial cooperation with Cuba as a country that has an open, export-driven economy and is seeking the possibility of cooperation with any willing country.
After meeting his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla in Budapest on Friday, Minister Szijjártó noted that the last time a Cuban foreign minister had paid a visit to Hungary was in 1983. He said that despite their geographical distance of almost 9,000 kilometres there were areas of cooperation for the two countries to further explore, according to a ministry statement.
The minister announced that they had signed cooperation agreements including one in science and innovation that allows coordinated developments in the area of health sciences, for instance in biotechnology and nuclear medicine. It could also contribute to the soonest possible achievement of carbon neutrality and food safety, he said.
He noted that under the cooperation ten Cuban students would continue to receive a state scholarship annually to study at a Hungarian university.
"And an agreement concluded between our foreign affairs institute and Cuba's research institute for foreign affairs will allow young people specialised in foreign affairs studies to expand their knowledge," the minister said.
Minister Szijjártó said that since his Cuban colleague arrived in Budapest straight from the BRICS summit in Kazan, he could get information "first-hand" about that event.
He noted the upcoming meeting of the European Political Community's leaders scheduled for early next month in Budapest and expressed hope that once in future the leaders of major western and eastern countries will sit down to the same negotiating table, "enabling that the next decades of the world should be about connectivity and respectful global cooperation rather than about the emergence of blocs".
The minister said such a development would be highly needed at a time when mankind was facing challenges that affected all people irrespective of their political orientation, sympathies or the geographical location where they live.
"Nobody can hide from war, terrorism or challenges posed by energy and food safety. These are all global problems that need global solutions; and global solutions can only be found if we are capable of building up a respectful global cooperation."
"Hungary will do its small part in promoting that, since we believe in dialogue, to have a dialogue is a lot better than having none....," the minister said.
Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said that Hungary also supported the resolution to be submitted for a vote next week in the United Nations General Assembly on easing the US embargo on Cuba.
"And before some busy-bodies file reports claiming that what an anti-West position Hungary has endorsed again, I would like to emphasise that [the resolution's support] is a uniform position of the European Union," said Szijjártó, adding that an agreement signed between the EU and Cuba a couple of years ago could not take effect in full in the absence of EU-member Lithuania's ratification.
"Interestingly, the international liberal mainstream has not labelled Lithuania for being a member that undermines European unity. Whereas, interestingly, labelling comes immediately when Hungary happens to reject a measure in the EU."
Minister Szijjártó noted that Hungarian-Cuban cooperation looked back on a long past, adding that the two countries will mark the 65th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties next year.