President Sulyok holds talks with Kazakh counterpart in Budapest
President Tamás Sulyok met Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for talks in the presidential palace on Wednesday.
After the presidents met for a working lunch, Sandor Palace issued a statement that the two presidents agreed that “excellent” ties between the countries were informed by a common history and similar ways of thinking, and Hungary sought to pursue varied and intensive relations with Central Asian countries, with a special focus on the economy.
President Tokayev said his visit was aimed at elevating already “extremely good” relations to an even higher level, and he noted that Kazakhstan established diplomatic representation in Budapest in 1993, its first in Europe.
President Sulyok said cooperation had benefitted both countries in recent years, noting that this year the two countries were marking ten years of their strategic partnership.
Both countries were well placed as logistics and trade hubs between East and West, and Hungary “is looking forward to further opportunities” to cooperate in the energy and water industries while also welcoming Kazakh investors to Hungary, the statement said.
The two heads of state agreed that global solutions were needed to mitigate the consequences of climate change and protect the environment.
The presidents talked about Tuesday’s Hungarian-German soccer match which they both attended, and Tokayev praised the Hungarian team.
After the meeting, Tokayev invited Sulyok to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan next year.
Later on Laszlo Kover, the speaker of parliament, received President Tokayev in Parliament, the national assembly’s press office said in a statement. Both officials praised blossoming bilateral relations and noted the “strategic importance of ties in education and scholarship programmes”, as well as the role that powers like Kazakhstan and Hungary “can play in preventing further escalation” of the Russia-Ukraine war and in securing the quickest possible ceasefire.