Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Tuesday that the impacts of the war in Ukraine weigh not only on Europe but on Africa, too, so both continents have an interest in achieving peace as soon as possible.
Minister Szijjártó met Musalia Mudavadi, his Kenyan counterpart, in Budapest, according to a statement from the foreign ministry, which cited Minister Szijjártó as saying that armed conflicts, the threat of terrorism, and the waves of migration were serious global challenges.
"We have all suffered long enough from a war we have nothing to do with. So we've had enough of European politicians bent on pursuing war, trying to thwart peace efforts and surreptitiously undermining peace talks," Minister Szijjártó said.
"Peace is in the shared interest of the people of Europe and Africa, so we have an interest in the success of Donald Trump's peace efforts and the recent US-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia yielding results, so that international politics can return to the basis of common sense," Minister Szijjártó said.
"Kenya is also on the side of peace" he said, adding that it played a "crucial stabilising role in settling conflicts in the region, contributing to improving the security situation in Africa and improving security in Europe."
Regarding terrorism, Minister Szijjártó said that nearly 20,000 people were killed by radical organisations in Africa last year, and called for increased efforts to fight terrorism, which he called one of the primary causes of illegal migration.
Africa's population could increase by 950 million by 2050, and "unless we rein in terrorism, it will involve the largest-ever wave of migration to hit Europe," he said, adding that "seeing the state Europe's in now, the continent will hardly be able to tackle it."
Pointing to the causes of migration, Minister Szijjártó called for joint efforts to address economic, health, and education problems "so that people aren't forced to leave their homeland but contribute their skills to the welfare of their country".
The Hungarian government has completed 18 humanitarian and development programmes in Kenya, worth a combined 650 million forints, Minister Szijjártó said, adding that the projects involved education, health, welfare, and agricultural developments "especially when it comes to water supply and hygienic infrastructure of poor areas".
At their talks, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation. Minister Szijjártó said agricultural projects by Hungarian companies worth a total of 6 billion forints are already under way in Kenya.
Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said that 521 Kenyan students are currently studying at Hungarian universities.