Successful bilateral talks in Kuwait regarding education, economy, medicine and security

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held bilateral talks with counterparts from Iraq, Turkey, Malaysia, Slovenia, Saudi Arabia and Australia during a visit to Kuwait on Tuesday.

Szijjártó is attending a foreign ministerial meeting of the global coalition set up to defeat the Islamic State terrorist organisation.

He told MTI over the phone that he had agreed with his Iraqi counterpart on Baghdad granting visas to all members of a Hungarian contingent to arrive in Iraq to replace the current contingent.

Hungary has increased the number of soldiers stationed in Iraq from 150 to 200 and the new soldiers are scheduled to arrive there in late February, he added.

The two ministers also agreed that Hungary will offer medical treatment to twenty Iraqi soldiers wounded in the fights against the IS. Similarly to last year, Hungary will again offer a training course on bomb disposal to members of the Iraqi army this year.

Szijjártó confirmed for his Turkish counterpart that Hungary, as a dedicated supporter of the global war against terrorism, will always bear solidarity with Turkey in its counter-terrorism efforts. Economic cooperation between Hungary and Turkey has been expanding and total trade exceeded 3 billion dollars by the end of last year, he added.

Szijjártó and his Malaysian counterpart finalised a document on economic cooperation.