Hungary will continue to help other central and eastern European countries in their efforts to contain the novel coronavirus epidemic, in line with the EU’s relevant policy, the foreign minister said.
The European commissioner for foreign affairs and security policy has asked every member state to provide help to troubled countries outside the bloc, Péter Szijjártó told an online press conference after a videoconference with EU development ministers. The videoconference was initiated by Josep Borrell, the commissioner, to discuss the distribution of 15.5 billion euro assistance the EU has set aside as a bloc to help troubled countries in the western Balkans, in Africa and Asia, Szijjártó said. Hungary has so far provided 600,000 face masks and 30,000 protective suits to neighbouring Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, as well as to North Macedonia and the Bosnian Serb Republic, he said.
Concerning supplies, Szijjártó noted that Hungary had so far received from China consignments of 36 million masks and a machine line for the production of an additional 2.8 million masks per month. He added that additional consignments of 5 million face masks, protective suits and 140 ventilators are expected to arrive in Hungary from China during the day.
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