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Hungary wants to bolster ties with Eastern countries, says Orbán in Kazakhstan – UPDATE
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Hungary views the changed balance between East and West as an opportunity rather than a danger and wants to use it to bolster its ties with Eastern countries, the prime minister said in Nursultan on Wednesday.
Viktor Orbán paid an official visit to Kazakhstan where he held talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The prime minister told a joint press conference held with Tokayev that Hungary “has an easy time” boosting its relations with eastern and Central Asian countries.
“We are tied to the peoples of the Central Asian region through our historical roots, which means we have the cultural foundations to intensify diplomatic and economic ties with them,” Orbán said.
Everything happening today in international politics, he said, was a reflection of the new balance between East and West.
“In the past, it was a given that the West had reason to believe when it came to technology, economic development and finding successful political systems that it was the strongest player in the world,” Orbán said. But the situation has now changed, he said, arguing that the East was continuously getting stronger. The next ten years will also be about this shift in balance, he added.
“We tend to forget that democracy is not just about the right to take part in an election and debate shared issues,” the prime minister said. Democracy, he said, was also a form of government, according to the ancient Greek approach, “meaning that the right to freedom of expression and voting rights must converge in effective and stable governance”.
Orbán said the world’s most successful countries today were also the ones with the most stable political systems. He said Kazakhstan had been a leading country in terms of stability in recent years, adding that the ongoing global changes would further strengthen the country’s stability.
