The relations with the Central Asian countries are especially important for Hungary. Hungary is a committed member of the Euro–Atlantic alliance, however, it is also important that friendly relations should be achieved with the East, among them with the Central Asian countries. This was underlined by President Katalin Novák during her joint press conference in the Sándor Palace with Sadyr Japarov, the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. During his visit to Hungary Sadyr Japarov was also received in the Carmelite Monastery by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan also held discussions with László Kövér, the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament.
Europe is moving closer to the countries in Central Asia, pointed out the President of Hungary after having talks with Sadyr Japarov. Katalin Novák added: Hungary welcomes that the cooperation between the European Union and Kyrgyzstan has been expanding. The next stage of this process is that an Agreement on Cooperation and Partnership will be in a very short time signed by them. Hungary will use all her diplomatic tools so that this process could gain speed.
After their talks, the two Presidents signed an Agreement on Strategic Partnership which expresses a joint commitment to tackle terrorism in an efficient way. Katalin Novák stressed that “We would like our bilateral relations to strengthen in as many fields as possible. Another significant objective is that the two countries could act together against the increasing threat of illegal migration. Besides that, we would like to strengthen our relations in most fields, like the field of tourism, agriculture, water management and education.”
Katalin Novák also pointed out that in the framework of Stipendium Hungaricum, Hungary offers scholarships to 200 students from Kyrgyzstan. The Joint Development Fund is meant to promote economic cooperation. This offers financing to companies that would like to make investments in each other’s countries. The President of Hungary added that the war between Russia and Ukraine was also a major topic of the talks. Katalin Novák and Sadyr Japarov agreed that the priority is peace and seating the sides at the negotiating table.
During the meeting of the Presidents, the representatives of Hungary and Kyrgyzstan – among them Minister for Justice Judit Varga and Attila Péterfalvi, the Ombudsman for Data Protection – signed further agreements on cooperation in the fields of justice and education. After the talks Sadyr Japarov underlined that the goal was to raise the level of the bilateral relations. In order to achieve this, Kyrgyzstan has taken several steps in the course of the past years.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – in which several members of the Government of Hungary also took part – it was said that the good political relations between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan leads to ever stronger economic and trade links. Viktor Orbán emphasized that the decision-makers in Brussels should have a less bureaucratic approach to developing the relations of the EU with Kyrgyzstan and the whole of Central Asia since this region is of strategic significance for the security of Europe and that of the whole world. The war in Ukraine was also a major issue on the agenda of the talks. The Sides agreed on the necessity of a peaceful solution, and also the fact that the sanctions cause serious difficulties to the countries in Europe and Asia. Sadyr Japarov extended an official invitation to Viktor Orbán to Bishkek who accepted it with his thanks.
During the two-day visit by President Japarov the Hungarian and Kyrgyz experts took stock of the successfully implemented bilateral projects, and during the Business Forum further agreements were signed. Last year the volume of bilateral trade set up a record by producing a 60 percent increase. The Hungarian–Kyrgyz Development Fund has started its operation with USD16 million with an assignment of financing Hungarian investments in water management, agriculture and energy in Kyrgyzstan.
