In the future, Hungary will pay special attention to the Sahel region
In the future, Hungary will place special emphasis on the Sahel region, as it is considered a potential migration source region near Europe," said Tristan Azbej, the State Secretary responsible for programs aiding persecuted Christians at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
At the informal meeting of European Union member states development policy leaders in Cádiz, Tristan Azbej said: “In recent times, one armed conflict after another has erupted in African regions, with the most recent being the military coup in Niger.”
“Hungary was the first to call on the Nigerien parties to return to constitutional order,” he recalled.
According to the State Secretary, it is necessary to halt Niger’s slide into complete crisis through development and humanitarian aid, preserving its stability. “Because if we don’t do this, the consequences for migration from West Africa and the Sahel region into Europe could be unforeseeable,” he asserted.
He explained that both Hungary and the European Union are interested in not allowing war escalation to take center stage in neighbouring crisis regions but rather encouraging peaceful solutions through development partnerships. “A development partnership that does not reflect a Western, ideologically colonialist, or condescending viewpoint but seeks, in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership, to stabilize these developing or crisis-stricken countries, much like the Hungarian model,” Azbej Tristan stated.
The State Secretary also noted that the participants at the Cádiz meeting agreed that the European Union lags behind global competitors in international development partnerships. He emphasized that the EU needs to catch up through initiatives such as Team Europe or the Global Gateway.
“Europe must close this gap and become a larger, more significant player in the field of economic development partnerships; particularly in the Eastern Partnership and on the African continent,” he added.
Azbej Tristan also briefed the participants at the meeting on the Hungary Helps program model, which has already delivered Hungarian assistance directly to more than 50 countries.
“In cases of armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, natural disasters, and, not exclusively but with a special focus on the world’s most persecuted religion, the persecuted Christian communities. In this way, we have reached more than a million people with assistance and contributed to their ability to stay in their homelands instead of migrating,” summarized the State Secretary.
Source: MTI
