Defence, economy and education – Szijjártó announces three pillars of Chad-Hungary cooperation

Hungary is establishing a strategic cooperation with the African country of Chad in the fields of defence, economy and education, thereby further strengthening the country's stabilising role in the Sahel region, MTI reports, citing an announcement by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. The minister held a joint press conference with his Chadian colleague Abderrahman Kulamallah on the occasion of the Chadian president's visit to Budapest, which Szijjártó described as historic, stressing that such a visit had never occurred before.

“We are two countries that are very careful to preserve their sovereignty, two countries that are clearly committed to peace. Two countries that clearly believe that wars can and must be resolved by negotiation, not by weapons.”

– said Szijjártó. He added that both Chad and Hungary have faced major challenges in recent years and both countries have rejected any steps in international politics that could lead to an escalation of war. Szijjártó said that Europe is facing a number of security challenges today, the most important of which is illegal immigration and the consequent increase in the threat of terrorism. In this context, he stressed that illegal migration to the European Union cannot be stopped without cooperation with the Sahel region.

"We signed a strategic cooperation agreement on this, along with an agreement on defence collaboration as well as a cooperation in the area of livestock farming. This is a comprehensive partnership resting on the pillars of defence, economy and education," Szijjártó announced.

Under the defence cooperation agreement – which was published in the Hungarian Official Gazette on Monday evening – the countries would fight terrorism through the mutual exchange of military knowledge and experience. The minister added that the Hungarian government had initiated that the European Union provide 14 million euros from the so-called European Peace Facility to support the development of Chad's defence capacities. "The Hungarian proposal was placed on the agenda of the meeting of the EU's Committee of Ambassadors scheduled for 26 September, and we hope that this proposal will be adopted," he said.

At the press conference, Szijjártó also said Hungary is ready to launch a €150-200 million assigned assistance loan programme for Chad, under which Hungarian companies can work on strengthening the agricultural and food industry sectors, as well as on the development of water supply, education and digitalisation. In addition, the government's Hungary Helps Agency will launch an aid programme worth $1 million to prevent the spread of infections and improve healthcare.

As for the education pillar, Szijjártó said that twenty-five Chadian students will be able to study at Hungarian universities on scholarships annually, which is also an important factor for the development of people-to-people contacts.

Agriculture Minister István Nagy announced the arrival of the Chadian president on his Facebook page on Sunday. Szabad Európa previously reported that Déby was expected in Budapest in June, just three weeks after his election. At the time, the president was unable to come because violent incidents had broken out in Chad between the army and Islamist groups.

As part of the security arrangements, around 100 Hungarian soldiers would be sent to Chad to train local security forces. Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky announced on 13 October last year that the government would send 200 Hungarian soldiers to Chad, which had been fighting a civil war, to help contain the migration crisis from the Sahel region. Parliament approved the military mission on 6 November last year, but weeks before the announcement – and the parliamentary vote – the government had already decided to provide 817 million forints for the setting up of a humanitarian, training and development centre in Chad.

As a member of the Defence Minister's cabinet, Prime Minister Orbán's son, Gáspár Orbán, has also been involved in the preparation of the military mission to Chad. It has not yet been decided when exactly the Hungarian soldiers will leave for Chad. Experts are still speculating about what the Hungarian government's goal with the mission to Chad might be. According to information obtained by the investigative portal VSquare, the Hungarian government wants to set up a military intelligence centre in Chad.