Hungarian-Kazakh Cooperation: Orban Advocates Integration With West, Opening To East

(MTI) – Western integration and opening to the East are both needed for Hungary’s success, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after talks with Karim Masimov, his Kazakh counterpart, in Budapest on Tuesday.

During the talks, the two premiers signed a strategic partnership agreement. Agriculture, energy, science and technology as well as the pharmaceutical industry are areas where cooperation could yield mutual benefits, Orban said.

Kazakhstan is ready to serve as a bridge between Hungary and countries in Central Asia, Masimov said.

Orban congratulated his negotiating partner on the occasion that Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus had formed the Eurasian Economic Union. The union, he said, would become an important player of the global economy.

“Hungary considers it as a positive development in the global economy. We do not want to be left out of the opportunity. Hungary has completed the task of Western integration. Western integration and opening to the east could together make us successful,” Orban insisted.

“We are very glad that Hungary has been the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to form a strategic relationship with our country,” Masimov said.

Representatives of the two countries signed several bilateral agreements such as ones on tourism cooperation and setting up a joint investment fund.

Photo: MTI – Szilard Koszticsak

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters