Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, discussed security and bilateral cooperation with Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, his Yemeni counterpart, in Budapest on Wednesday.
At a joint press conference, Minister Szijjártó noted that bin Mubarak’s visit was the first by a Middle Eastern foreign minister to Hungary. “The visit comes at a critical time when the global security situation is the worst it has been in the last 80 years, partly due to the growing number of armed conflicts in the world and also because of the globally growing threat of terrorism,” a ministry statement cited Szijjártó as saying. Yemen is grappling with both of these challenges simultaneously, Minister Szijjártó said, warning of the risk of a regional or even global expansion of the country’s armed conflicts. The main duty of the international community must therefore be to prevent these regional conflicts from multiplying, he said. Szijjártó urged the international community to help Yemen rid itself of terrorist groups, arguing that stability and peace in the country could help reduce the global threat of terrorism. Hungary is also helping Yemen deal with its humanitarian crisis, he said, noting that Hungary Helps humanitarian programme had contributed more than 50 million forints (EUR 134,000) to the country’s food supply and health institutions over the last two years. This year, Hungary will contribute 10 million forints to the maternity clinic of a refugee camp, he added. Under new bilateral agreements signed on Wednesday, Hungary will help upgrade Yemen’s water supply, launch a training programme for Yemeni diplomats in Hungary and increase the number of higher education scholarships offered to Yemeni students from 60 to 100 a year, the minister said. Bilateral trade turnover increased by 48% in 2022 and has already seen a 2.5-fold increase this year thanks to a jump in pharmaceutical exports, Minister Szijjártó said.