Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary highly values Kyrgyzstan for promoting global security.
After meeting the Kyrgyz president on Tuesday, PM Orbán praised Kyrgyzstan's dependable action taken against terrorist organisations and its pro-peace position. The prime minister said Hungary generally thrived in times of peace and he was glad that Kyrgyzstan was "also on the side of peace".
He said that Hungary, as an EU member, was helping Kyrgyzstan in European political forums to ensure the broadest possible cooperation with the bloc, and he noted that bilateral relations had been raised to the level of a strategic partnership. Accordingly, two-way trade is set to double this year, he added.
At their last meeting, the Kyrgyz president said bilateral cooperation should focus on hydropower and agriculture, PM Orbán said, noting that a Hungarian-Kyrgyz investment fund has been set up to finance the building of a hydroelectric power plant as well as farm initiatives. Hungarian agricultural and food companies are now present in the country, "with good results", PM Orbán said.
Meanwhile, PM Orbán assured the Kyrgyz president that at the upcoming Coptic summit in Baku, Hungary would support the Kyrgyz initiative to protect mountain culture and way of life.
Also, 200 Kyrgyz students are studying with a scholarship in Hungary, and Hungary was ready to receive even more students in light of the strong demand. Orban said he had expressed his gratitude for the fact that Hungarian can now be studied in Kyrgyzstan.
PM Orbán noted that it was in Kyrgyzstan that Hungary joined the Turkic Council six years ago, and it has since become a political member of that community. In 2025 an informal Turkish Council meeting will be held in Budapest, he noted.
PM Orbán said Hungarians were the only people from the East who migrated to the West and planted roots here, but they had not forgotten their origins, and always treated the Turkic peoples, including the Kyrgyz, with "friendly and fraternal feelings".
During his official visit, PM Orbán and high-level Kyrgyz officials are scheduled to sign several agreements on advancing bilateral cooperation. The prime minister will also participate in a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organisation of Turkic States to be held in Biskek on Wednesday.