On 17 October, Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) held a meeting with experts from the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary with the participation of the Deputy Director of the Institute Tamas Peter Baranyi and Chief Advisor, Senior Research Fellow Laszlo Vasa.

The main topics of the meeting were the prospects for the development of Uzbek-Hungarian relations, cooperation within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and strengthening the role of think tanks of the two countries in this process.

The participants of the discussion highly appreciated the current state of Uzbek-Hungarian relations, brought in 2021 to the level of strategic partnership. “In recent years, interest in Central Asia has increased in Hungary, especially Uzbekistan, which is considered as a long-term and key partner in the region”, Peter Baranyi said.

The parties also discussed multifaceted interaction within the framework of the OTS on the eve of the first summit of the organization at the highest level, which will be held in Samarkand on 11 November 2022. The Hungarian side stressed that the Turkic-speaking countries play an important role in Hungary’s strategy of "Opening to the East", and Budapest, as an observer country, pays special attention to fruitful cooperation with all the states of the Organization.

ISRS and IFAT specialists expressed their mutual readiness to establish a regular dialogue, allowing for an exchange of views on all areas of bilateral relations in order to fully unlock the existing potential of bilateral cooperation.

The Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry was established in 1972, is the leading research institution in Hungary, and conducts fundamental research on security policy, energy, industry and technology. A memorandum of cooperation between ISRS and the Hungarian Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade was signed in March 2021.

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