President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán signed a Joint Declaration on the establishment of enhanced strategic partnership relations. The ceremony took place on May 20 as part of the official visit of the head of the Central Asian republic to Budapest, reports UzA.
The agency clarifies that at the Carmelite Palace in Budapest, Mirziyoyev and Orbán held talks in a narrow format, as well as with the participation of representatives of both countries' delegations. The parties discussed issues of further deepening multifaceted cooperation.
As a result of the meeting, a number of intergovernmental and interagency documents were adopted.
Among them:
✅ an extradition treaty;
✅ an agreement on cooperation in the field of climate change;
✅ agreements in the areas of disaster management, science and innovation, and peaceful nuclear energy.
During the negotiations, the positive dynamics in the development of relations between Uzbekistan and Hungary at the level of parliaments, governments, sectoral agencies and regions, as well as close interaction within the framework of the UN, the Organization of Turkic States, and other international structures, were noted.
Representatives of both states highlighted the growth of mutual trade, agreeing to increase the trade turnover to $500 million in the near future, including through import substitution and GSP+ status.
In addition, ahead of Mirziyoyev’s visit to Budapest, a portfolio of new joint investment projects totaling $1.5 billion was prepared. It was also decided to resume the activities of the Uzbek-Hungarian Business Council with the involvement of a broad range of entrepreneurs.
Humanitarian cooperation, which is actively developing, was also discussed. For example, in October last year, a bust of the great poet Alisher Navoi was unveiled in the city of Lakitelek, and in January of this year, Days of Uzbek Cinema were held in Budapest.
Mirziyoyev and Orbán proposed declaring 2026 the Year of Uzbek and Hungarian Culture. Notably, several major projects have already been planned. In particular, preparations are underway for the staging of the ballet “Lazgi” at the Hungarian State Opera and for an exhibition of Uzbek culture at the Ethnographic Museum in the capital of this European country.
In the field of education, partnership under the Stipendium Hungaricum program will continue. Issues of implementing a dual-degree system and establishing branches of Hungarian universities in Uzbekistan will also be considered. It was noted that this year Tashkent will host the third Uzbek-Hungarian Rectors’ Forum.
Mirziyoyev and Orbán paid attention to security issues. They discussed cooperation in combating terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and more.
In order to ensure control over the implementation of the agreements reached, the responsible ministries were instructed to develop a joint “road map.”
At the end of the meeting, the President of Uzbekistan invited the Prime Minister of Hungary to pay a return visit to the Central Asian republic.
