By Mohamed Sheriff
The Embassy andPermanent Mission of Sierra Leone in Geneva hosted the Minister of ForeignAffairs of Hungary, His Excellency PéterSzijjártópaying a courtesy call onthe Minister of Foreign Minister and International Cooperation, His Excellency, Professor David John Francis, to advance bilateral ties between the two countries.
His Excellency PéterSzijjártó applauded Sierra Leone’s efforts towards creating a highly skilled human resource base in Sierra Leone and mitigating the impact of Covid-19.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister disclosed that his country will increase support for Sierra Leone’s educational sector by providingmore scholarships and will invest in the water resources sector.
The Foreign Minister assured Hungary`s commitment to providing fifty (50) scholarships for undergraduates, postgraduates and Master programmes immediately, Operationalisation of Visa free countries, Exchange of diplomatic staff for diplomatic and service passports holders, cooperation on water management among other things.
Foreign Minister Professor Francis thanked the Government of Hungary for itsassurances of deepening ties and greater support for Sierra Leone, while praising the good working relationship Sierra Leone has enjoyed with Hungary for close to 60 years.
“We consider your country as a close partner. My government is committed to strengthening the relationship”, Professor Francisconcluded.
The two Ministers agreed to mutually support each other’s candidacy in pending UN-related elections.
The state of Hungary was one of the earliest European countries to establishbilateral ties with the Republic of Sierra Leone after her independence from Great Britain in 1961.
In line with the new alignment policy directive from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hungary is now under a diplomatic jurisdiction of the Embassy of Sierra Leone to the Federal Republic of Germany.
