The cost of hosting over a half-million Syrian refugees is expected to surpass $2 billion for Jordan, a senior official said on Thursday as hundreds of Syrians continued to flee to the country.

Jordan lags behind several countries in the region in terms of Internet download and upload speeds, according to an international report.

Jordan’s permanent envoy to the UN HH Prince Zeid Raad said Thursday that Jordan has profound experience in international affairs, which it will deploy to serve the cause of peace and stability in case it is elected to fill a vacant non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday examined ways to further develop Jordanian-EU relations and briefed European officials on Jordan’s position regarding various regional issues.