“Hungary wants to be the engine of cooperation between the EU and Central Asia, because cooperation is in the interests of both Europe and Hungary”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday in Budapest following talks with his Kyrgyzstani counterpart.
“The European Union is paying particular attention to the Central Asian region in view of energy sources, trade potential and transit opportunities towards more distant Asian markets”, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted, adding that in addition to expanding economic relations, cooperation with the region is also important because of the fight against terrorism.
“Today, an EU Foreign Minister and a Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) sat down to the negotiating table and agreed that it is important to maintain opportunities for pragmatic cooperation between the two organisations. Cooperation between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan may provide a good basis for this, in addition to which it is also important that a reinforced partnership agreement come about between the EU and Kyrgyzstan”, the Minister stressed.
Mr. Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that Kyrgyzstan is the current President of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which also provided an opportunity for the discussion of global challenges during the course of negotiations. ”We agreed that it is impossible to find solutions to the most pressing global challenges without cooperation between the Trans-Atlantic community, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States”, he said.
Furthermore, the parties agreed on the most important elements of a bilateral economic cooperation agreement, which will be signed this autumn, he added.
Kyrgyzstani Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev welcomed the highly intense nature of Hungarian- Kyrgyzstani relations and stressed that great emphasis must continue to be placed on economic cooperation in future. He told reporters that he and his Hungarian counterpart had discussed issues relating to bilateral relations and opportunities for cooperation within international organisations. “Further goals must be set with regard to improving relations and the two parties will be holding further meetings on the sidelines of future international summits”, he said.
Mr. Abdyldaev also mentioned that relations between Russia and the EU are “not developing particularly well” and that this is also having a negative effect on Kyrgyzstan, in view of which the country is also supporting an improvement of the situation, which according to the Foreign Minister would be in the interests of all parties.
Earlier in the day, the Kyrgyzstani Foreign Minister was received in Parliament by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, who during their meeting stressed that relations between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan have seen rapid development recently and declared “we are committed to the continuation of this progress”.