Hungary rejects all attempts linking international terrorism with the Arab world
Syria-Hungary, Politics, 10/20/2001

In a statement to Arabic News, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Hungary in Damascus Balzs Bokor said that Hungary was in a hurry to declare on the highest level that after the attacks of September 11 the interest is unchanged in order to maintain and further develop the close economic and political relations with the Arab states, especially Syria.

He added that this was stated during the meeting held by the Hungarian prime minister with heads of the Arab diplomatic missions in Budapest. He continued that the Arab ambassadors, including the Syrian ambassador who attended the meeting expressed their appreciation for the position adopted by the Hungarian government and people and over the support given to the Arab community living in Hungary. " In fact no anti- Arab Muslim notion was felt in Hungary," ambassador Bokor commented.

He continued that for Hungary all attempts aimed at linking international terrorism with the Arab world and Islam as a religion and a civilization, are unacceptable, he said.

Ambassador Bokor indicated another important element on the political level is that Hungary supported from the very beginning the Syrian intention to become a non- permanent member of the UN security council and " consequently our delegate at the UN General Assembly for this Syrian membership." Highlighting the continued co-operation relations between the two countries, ambassador Bokor said:" Our activity can not be limited just to strengthening the Hungarian- Syria bilateral relations. He explained that several key figures and expert delegations from Hungary visited Syria and held talks with their Syrian partners. He said that an intensive preparatory activity is going on in order to secure a more comprehensive Hungarian company participation in the areas of irrigation, water management, agriculture, electricity transport..etc.. he said that Hungarian companies have won several tenders. The volume of trade exchange between Hungary and Syria if we take the first seven months of 2000 as 100%, reached 195% in the same period of 2001.

He indicated that a joint Hungarian Ð Syrian Agricultural Committee is working very actively in the past period, noting that Hungary has always a remarkable presence in the Damascus International Fair, while new Hungarian companies opened their representation offices in Damascus and preparations are underway to establish the Hungarian- Syrian Businessmen Association in the very near future, He remarked that as an important new step, the Hungarian Eximbank and the Syrian Commercial Bank agreed to open for each other direct bank guarantees.

He said that apart from the political and economic, bilateral cultural links between the two countries are also booming. He said that:" Our plan is to issue an anthology of Hungarian poetry in Arabic, hoping that the first work of this kind will be published in Damascus. he added that the planning of a Hungarian cultural week is underway and it will be opened in the first quarter of the year 2002.

He also noted the close co-operation in the area of archaeology and that Hungarian archaeologists, who are reputed world- wide made some contributions in Syria especially in digging works at Tell Bi'a which was under the name of Tuttul, as the center of God Dagan, one of the most important settlements in Syria around 3000-2000 BC.

On the education field, the ambassador said Syrian students are studying in a big number in Hungarian universities in the past decades, noting that there are between 30 to 40 Syrian students with a Hungarian state scholarship and many others studying in Hungary at their own expenses.

As a sign for further bilateral co-operation, ambassador Bokor said that the Hungarian government in 1998 declared that the southern and eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea is a priority for us. So, Syria, as part of the Arab world is the best venue to serve this effect. He indicated the political will on both the Syrian and Hungarian sides to increase bilateral co-operation. He said that the task of both the Hungarian embassy in Damascus and the Syrian Embassy in Budapest is to support all initiatives serving this goal. He said the Hungarian embassy therefore set up a web-site to provide information on Hungary and a monthly basis an e-mail bulletin on Hungarian economy and business is also available for serving mutual interests.

Previous Stories:
  Hungarian official voices support to Syria becoming a temporary member of UN Security Council   (6/24/2001)
  A message to al-Assad from Hungarian counterpart   (6/21/2001)
  Syrian speaker in Hungary   (1/29/2000)

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