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At his meeting with the President of Kyrgyzstan, the Prime Minister said he sees the hand of fate in the fact that six years ago Hungary was admitted to the Turkic Council in Kyrgyzstan of all countries. Hungary has been a member of that community also politically since then.
He added that Hungary as a member of the European Union did good service for the Kyrgyz people as well as for Kyrgyzstan by representing their interests at all forums of European politics. Hungary is making every effort to enable Kyrgyzstan to realise the deepest and widest possible cooperation not only with Hungary, but equally with the entire European Union, he indicated.
Mr Orbán said Hungary greatly appreciates the efforts the region and in particular Kyrgyzstan make in the interest of global security. We greatly appreciate their consistent action against terrorist organisations as well as their pro-peace position as Hungary is a country which lives in the neighbourhood of a country that has been at war for a thousand days, he stated.
He pointed out that Ukraine was our neighbour, and the war was contrary to the best interests of the Hungarian people. Therefore, we have a vested interest in the swiftest possible conclusion of the war.
“The Hungarians are a nation which is good at peace, and less good at war. We are able to do well in peace, and we’re glad that Kyrgyzstan, too, is on the side of peace, and so we’re both members of the global pro-peace majority. We’re working and also praying hard for the restoration of peace within the shortest possible time,” he said.
He recalled that four years ago the two countries had raised bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership. As a result, trade between the two countries keeps increasing, and will double this year.
He highlighted that at the last meeting, the Kyrgyz president had identified the two areas which they wished to see in the centre of cooperation; one of them was hydropower, while the other one was agriculture. He recalled that earlier the parties had set up a Hungarian-Kyrgyz investment fund, the resources of which they would use for the construction of a hydroelectric power station, while they had also achieved results in the field of agriculture.
Hungarian companies, including agricultural and food industry businesses have appeared in Kyrgyzstan where the first sowing seed production areas have already been designated. “We have already sown these areas, and as far as I can see, we will achieve fine results in farming them,” Mr Orbán said.
The Prime Minister reassured the Kyrgyz president of the fact that at the upcoming COP29 summit in Baku, Hungary would support the Kyrgyz initiative aimed at the maintenance and protection of traditional mountain culture and way of life.
He thanked Kyrgyzstan for sending two hundred Kyrgyz scholarship holders to Hungary. He said we are happy to acknowledge that there are more applicants than available places and that even more students would like to come to Hungary. “We are ready to receive them,” he said.
He highlighted that Hungarian friendship would be promoted by the young people who now studied in each other’s country, and so “we look upon this not only as an educational issue, but also as a political investment.”
He also expressed his appreciation for the fact that it is now possible to study in Hungarian also in Kyrgyzstan.
He said in 2025 Budapest will host the next informal Turkic Council meeting to which the Kyrgyz president will also be invited.
Mr Orbán pointed out that the Hungarians were the only oriental people who managed to survive during their migration to the West and to establish a state of their own. 1,100 years is a long time, but the Hungarian people have not lost “their origin awareness.” We have always had amicable and brotherly feelings towards Turkic peoples, including the Kyrgyz people, he said.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán arrived in Kyrgyzstan on an official visit on Tuesday. As part of the visit, the parties are planning to conduct high-level talks, including negotiations about a number of issues concerning the strategic partnership of Kyrgyzstan and Hungary. They are planning to sign multiple documents which aim to serve the further development and strengthening of bilateral cooperation, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief reported earlier. He added that Mr Orbán would also attend the summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States to be held in Bishkek on Wednesday.
