The Foreign Minister has said that we will never be able to stop the fight against terrorism, and Hungary is committed to continuing this fight.
Following talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, highlighted that the Easter terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka drew attention to the importance of this fight.
“The attacks were mainly aimed at people taking part in Easter religious services, and Christian communities are among the most persecuted religious communities in the world,” the Minister said. “We rarely talk about this because of political correctness and hypocrisy, but we do not accept the fact that anti-Christianity should be allowed to be the last acceptable form of discrimination,” he added.
Minsiter Szijjártó said he had expressed his condolences and solidarity to the Sri Lankan government and people with relation to the attacks, adding he has also expressed his appreciation to the Sri Lankan government concerning the measures it has taken to apprehend the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks. “Hungary pledged 20 million forints in emergency aid to the country following the attacks,” he said.
The Minister also spoke about the fact that a significant level of economic cooperation seems to be developing, the basis of which is Hungary’s 47.5 billion HUF (147 million EUR) tied aid loan program within the framework of which Hungarian companies are constructing motorway overpasses, developing the country’s water network, refurbishing railway intersections and modernizing Sri Lanka’s court system. “Eximbank is also facilitating cooperation between Hungarian and Sri Lankan enterprises with a 90-million-dollar credit line,” he said. The Minister concluded that Hungary is also calling for the EU to increase its funding for Sri Lanka.
Photo credit: MTI