KIGALI, Rwanda
Rwanda is scheduled to select 60 students and send them to Hungary to undergo nuclear education over the next three years under a scholarship agreement signed between the two countries.
The agreement was signed
during a state visit of Hungarian President Katalin Novák who began her visit
in Rwanda on Friday, she visited a hospital and a school and handed over
donations.
She stressed that Hungary
wants to contribute to development by asking what is needed.
She noted that Rwanda and
Hungary could also set a good example of how to cooperate on the basis of
mutual respect, and welcomed the fact that the meeting had resulted in
President Kagame’s announcement that Rwanda would open a diplomatic mission in
Hungary.
“Hungary is the gateway to the
European Union, Rwanda is the gateway to the African continent,” said Hungarian
President Katalin Novák on Sunday after talks with President Paul Kagame of
Rwanda.
The two countries signed
agreements on the extension of the Stipendium Hungaricum Program, on nuclear
education in Hungary and Rwanda, and a financing agreement for a U$52 million
water sector project under an emergency loan program.
“Hungary contributes to
humanitarian programs around the world, and since 2017 we have already provided
300 humanitarian aid projects in 54 countries, worth more than U$100 million,”
she said.
“This is my first visit as
president to an African country. The reason why I chose Rwanda to be the first
country to visit is because I wanted to see how much Rwanda has developed in
recent decades,” President Katalina told local journalists.
On Saturday, she attended a
European history lesson at the Nyanza Secondary School and visited and tested
the hand-washing station set up by the Hungary Helps project.
Meanwhile, on Sunday,
President Katalin Novák laid a wreath at the memorial site of the 1994 genocide
in Rwanda and met with the Archbishop of Kigali, Cardinal Antoine Kambanda.
On Friday, Katalin Novák laid a wreath at the memorial plaque of Hungarian ecologist and rhinoceros conservationist Krisztián Gyöngyi who lost his life in 2017 after a rhinoceros attack.
The Hungarian leader also
visited the neonatal ward of the hospital in Rwamagana district, where she
handed over two incubators in cooperation with the Hungarian Interchurch Aid.
Tristan Azbej, the State
Secretary responsible for helping persecuted Christians and implementing the
Hungary Helps Program, said that Katalin Novák and her delegation will also
hand over several material donations, including sports equipment and
flashlights.
The latter is important
because many families have no electricity in their homes. The President’s
donation, the most appreciated by the locals, was two cows, which will help to
provide children with healthy milk, he added.
Tristan Azbej also said that
the sub-Saharan region of the African continent is becoming increasingly
important for the Hungary Helps Program.
He stressed the importance of
supporting education and vocational training, so that the rising generations
can help to shape their future here on the ground.
In this context, the State
Secretary has recently visited Niger and Chad. In Niger, a humanitarian
donation was made to a school of the Catholic Church on behalf of the Hungary
Helps Program.
Furthermore, consular presence
in the region has also been strengthened, and Hungary and Niger has signed a
defense cooperation agreement.
In Chad, Hungary is providing
100,000 euros in aid since more than 200,000 refugees are residing in the
country who have fled the conflict in Sudan.
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