BUDAPEST, May 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Xi Jinping received a warm welcome in Hungary on Thursday as he held talks aimed at bolstering already flourishing ties with China’s closest European Union ally, amid divisions with the West over the Ukraine war and global trade.
The state visit to Hungary is the final leg of Xi’s first European tour since 2019.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were received with military honours by Hungary’s President Tamas Sulyok in the lavish courtyard of Budapest’s presidential palace.
According to a statement issued after the meeting between the heads of state, Xi said that the bilateral “relationship is now at its best in history”.
For the state visit, Budapest was decked out with Chinese flags and placed under tight security. The few flags held up by Tibetan demonstrators were hidden from Xi’s sight.
Before his arrival late Wednesday, Xi had praised in an op-ed published in Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet daily a “long-standing friendship” he described “as mellow and rich as Tokaji wine”, referring to the renowned Hungarian vineyards region.
“We have gone through hardships together and defied power politics together amid volatile international situations.
“Our bilateral relationship… has embarked on a golden voyage… On the new journey of the new era, China looks forward to working closely with our Hungarian friends,” he wrote.
Frequently at loggerheads with Brussels, Orban has pursued an eastwards foreign policy since his return to power in 2010, seeking closer economic ties with Russia, China and other Asian countries.
The nationalist premier remained committed to his strategy even as tensions between Western nations and Beijing have increased over human rights, the Covid pandemic, trade and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since Hungary began to promote itself as a global hub for electric car manufacturing in 2022, new Chinese businesses have sprung up all over the country.
Xi’s three-day visit to Hungary after passing through Paris “shows Hungary’s growing importance in global politics,” Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas told a government briefing on Thursday.
According to the Hungarian government, at least 16 different agreements promoting cooperation with China in rail and road infrastructure, nuclear energy and the automotive industry are to be signed.
The Chinese leader kicked off his tour in France, a visit that was cordial but also highlighted tensions between Beijing and the EU over the Ukraine war and global trade.
In Hungary, a country with close ties to Moscow and Beijing, Xi will be able to “avoid tough conversations and awkward questions”, he added.
Both countries have called for a peaceful settlement of Russia’s war in Ukraine. — NNN-AGENCIES
