The foreign ministers of Hungary and Colombia have signed agreements online covering cooperation in higher education, the continuation of a scholarship scheme and establishing relations between their diplomatic academies.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Facebook that the documents had to be signed “from a distance of several thousand kilometers” because of the coronavirus epidemic. Hungarian universities provide 40 scholarships to students from Colombia each year and the level of interest is well demonstrated by the fact that 250 applications have been received.
The minister said cooperation with Colombia is an important element of Hungary’s opening to the south policy. Hungary has donated medical equipment to Colombia to be used in caring for refugees from Venezuela, he added.
Minister Szijjártó added that Hungarian companies have recently entered the pharmaceutical and agricultural markets of the Latin American country. The two countries are working together in the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) to fight against the persecution of Christians and other religious groups, he added.