Tunis: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó will pay a working visit to Tunisia on Monday at the invitation of Nabil Ammar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad.
‘This is the fourth visit since his appointment and comes within the framework of the excellent relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries since 1956 and the intensification of political consultations initiated in 1996.’
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, the talks will provide an opportunity to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral and multilateral cooperation in various fields, especially in the context of the forthcoming Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in addition to deepening consultations on a number of current regional and international issues of common interest.
Tunisian-Hungarian relations date back to 1956, when Tunisia became the first Maghreb country and the fourth in the Arab world (after Iraq,
Egypt and Syria) to establish diplomatic relations with Hungary.
In January 2013, Tunisia decided to upgrade its diplomatic representation in Budapest to the level of ambassador, which was warmly welcomed by the Hungarian authorities.
For its part, Hungary has been providing continuous political support to Tunisia since 2011, which has been reflected in an increased frequency of visits, as well as its support for the decision to remove Tunisia from the European blacklist of high-risk countries in the field of money laundering and terrorist financing, its support for Tunisia’s request to extend the deadlines for the recovery of stolen funds, and Tunisia’s accession to the European Framework Research and Innovation Programme “Horizon Europe 2021-2027”.
The first meeting of the Joint Commission was held in Tunis on March 11-12, 2010 at the level of Secretaries of State, while the fifth meeting of the Joint Committee was held for the first time at the level of Foreign Ministers on June 20-21, 2010 in the Hunga
rian capital Budapest.
As for the volume of trade, the total amount of Hungarian direct investment in Tunisia does not exceed TND 490,000, through three companies based in Tunisia, while bilateral trade has witnessed a remarkable increase since Hungary joined the European Union in 2004, as Hungary is the 24th customer of Tunisia and the 29th supplier in 2019.
Regarding cooperation in the field of tourism, 2022 recorded a return to the normal pattern of the flow of Hungarian tourists to Tunisia, with the entry of about 15,000 tourists, while 2023 recorded a significant increase, with the number of tourists reaching 20,570.
There are no regular direct flights between Tunisia and Budapest.
On another level, the two countries are linked by an agreement on judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, recognition and enforcement of judgments and extradition, signed in Budapest on December 6, 1982 and ratified by the Tunisian side on April 6, 1984.
The number of Tunisian citizens living in Hungary is 1
,314, of whom 149 have dual nationality. The professional composition of the community includes 646 students, 75 pupils, 253 workers and 206 managers and professionals.
Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar visited Hungary last year to participate in the fifth session of the Joint Economic Commission and the third Tunisian-Hungarian Business Forum.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse