Besides the energy sector, education is also a priority area of the Hungarian-Kazakh cooperation.Continue reading
Global developments have been turbulent in recent years, and European politics is dominated by severe challenges, the Hungarian Prime Minister said on Friday at the 10th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Astana, Kazakhstan.
In his speech, Viktor Orbán said that we are facing difficult dilemmas and the answers we will give in Europe will have a strong impact on relations between the Turkic world and the continent. The prime minister emphasized that from a European perspective, global security is in its worst state since the end of the Cold War. The situation has never been so difficult and complex in the last thirty years.
Orbán reminded the attendees of the summit that the Russo-Ukrainian war has been going on for a year and a half, that there is an armed conflict in the Middle East, and that the terrorist threat in the countries of the European Union is increasing.
He added:
The European dilemma is this: What is in Europe’s best interests? The development of blocs in the world economy, or the enhancement of global connections, of connectivity?”
He expressed his conviction that Turkey, and through Turkey the Turkic world, must also be represented in the new European security architecture, as sustainable and long-term European security structure is inconceivable without Turkey.
In the current international situation, the role of the Organization of Turkic States is becoming increasingly important. The Turkic states have so far succeeded in defusing conflicts and reducing the risks of escalation,
he stated.
“Hungary would like to further strengthen this policy in the Organization of Turkic States,” the Prime Minister emphasized. He confirmed that Hungary is willing to participate in the work of the Turkish Investment Fund and stands by its earlier commitment to contribute EUR 100 million.
He said he is thankful for the opportunity that Hungary can participate in the work of the Green Finance Council and reminded the members of the Council that the country is among the twenty countries in the world whose GDP is growing while their emission of harmful pollutants was decreasing.
Kazakhs and Hungarians are clearly a related people, so it is easy for us to build a strategic relationship, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said in an interview with Kazakh television, after attending a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Turkic States on Friday.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that using common sense, anyone can have good relations with anyone, but if there are common historical and cultural points, it is much easier to establish them.
In the studio of Silk Way TV, the politician repeated what he had said at the meeting of foreign ministers. In his opinion, the European Union should develop a different plan for the war in Ukraine than the one it has pursued so far. This plan should include a ceasefire, peace talks, a peace treaty, and the establishment of a new European security architecture. This architecture must provide security for Ukraine, be acceptable to Russia, and include economic links between Europe, Turkey, and Central Asia.
Europe will never be secure if Central Asia is not secure,
emphasized the minister.
“Our relations must be much stronger in the future,” he added.
Szijjártó also said in the interview that the energy sector is one of the most important areas of the Hungarian-Kazakh cooperation. The two countries concluded a strategic cooperation agreement in 2014, and this year was the most successful in terms of implementation, especially in the field of energy cooperation, he stressed.
He mentioned that a Hungarian company is involved in the conversion of the Kazakh city of Taraz to environmentally friendly technologies by building a solar park and supplying electric buses. A Hungarian state-owned electricity company will supply cooling systems for power plants that operate without water to Kazakhstan, after three power plants already use them there, said Szijjártó.
As part of their cooperation, the two countries have just signed an agreement to expand the university scholarship program for Kazakh students in Hungary. Over the next three years, 250 Kazakh students will be able to study at Hungarian universities at the expense of the Hungarian state.
Hungary and Kazakhstan also work together in the United Nations. Budapest supports Kazakhstan’s initiative to rehabilitate the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site as part of an international project and to become a full member of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Via MTI, Ungarn Heute; Featured image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán
