The foreign minister has said that Hungary will continue to assist in the global fight against the Islamic State terrorist group.
During an official visit to Washington, Péter Szijjártó said regardless of the military successes against ISIS, the terrorist group still poses a grave global and regional threat, and Hungary is ready to keep fighting it.
Addressing a foreign ministers’ meeting convened by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo focusing on the global coalition against ISIS, Minister Szijjártó said Hungary was aiding the fight against the group on three fronts.
The first front constituted Hungary’s efforts on the battlefield. He noted that Hungary has 200 troops stationed in Iraq carrying out training, advisory and assistance tasks.
The second front consists of the help Hungary provides to displaced Middle Eastern Christians in returning to their homelands. He voiced Hungary’s concern that if these communities cannot return to their homelands, the “vacuum” created by their departure would be filled by ISIS.
The third front is stopping ISIS’s international fighters from returning to Europe in light of the group’s defeats. He said the terror group had about 5,000 fighters who had joined from Europe. Therefore, he said, the coalition had to do everything in its power to protect their countries’ borders in a way that ensures that ISIS militants cannot return to the continent.