Hungarian FM says stability in Iraq key issue to European security

Stability in Iraq is a key issue to European security, said Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday.

He made the remarks while addressing a news conference following a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Szijjarto noted Iraq was engaged in a crucial battle against the Islamic State (IS) militants, which had to be annihilated for the world's safety.

The victory of the Iraqi forces would also mean an end to the migration crisis, he added.

The two officials signed an accord eliminating dual taxation, and discussed ways of improving cooperation between Iraq and the European Union since 4.5 million people living in Iraq were displaced from their homes and 10 million needed government aid to survive.

Hungary, Szijjarto said, was doing its part, including deploying 146 Hungarian soldiers in northern Iraq and supplying weapons and training Iraqi forces in Hungary.

Hungary is also ready to receive and treat wounded Iraqi soldiers, Szijjarto added.

Al-Jaafari said the war in Iraq was not a conflict of countries or religions, since the IS was threatening all peoples and all religions. ISIS, he said, was "attacking humanity."

Iraq, he said, was traditionally a home to multiple religions and ethnic groups, and its various peoples had lived together in peace and harmony before the IS stepped in to destroy it.

Al-Jaafari spoke of the fighting in and around Mosul but said that liberating the city was taking longer than anticipated because of efforts to spare the civilian population.

So far, the Iraqi minister said, Iraqi forces had killed 1,700 extremists and captured another 120. In addition, he said, the Iraqi forces had destroyed 650 vehicles that extremists had turned into explosive devices.

He also said that Iraq needs to boost its crude oil extraction to fund the fight, given that oil accounted for 90 percent of the country's budget. Endit