President Lương Cường meets with Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér in Hà Nội on Monday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – President Lương Cường received Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér in Hà Nội on Monday, describing the guest's official visit as a contribution to the countries' Comprehensive Partnership and legislative ties.

President Cường warmly welcomed Speaker Laszlo and the Hungarian delegation, who are paying an official visit to Việt Nam from October 18 to 22 at the invitation of Chairman of the National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn, noting that the visit holds great significance as the two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1950–2025).

Taking place shortly after the Hungarian President’s official visit to Việt Nam in May, Speaker Laszlo's trip demonstrates the high level of trust between the two nations and will further advance their Comprehensive Partnership, particularly in inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The State leader sincerely appreciated Hungary’s valuable support for Việt Nam during the latter's past struggle for national liberation and current national development.

Việt Nam always treasured and wished to strengthen cooperation with Hungary, a leading partner and also the first comprehensive partner of Việt Nam in Central and Eastern Europe, he remarked.

Speaker Laszlo said he was delighted to visit Việt Nam again after 10 years, conveying greetings from President Sulyok Tamas and other Hungarian leaders. He thanked the Vietnamese leadership and people for their warm and respectful welcome.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress in bilateral ties, particularly since the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership in 2018. While many mutual visits at all levels have been organised, economic and trade cooperation remains a bright spot, with bilateral trade averaging around US$1 billion annually during 2020–2024. Collaboration in defence-security, education-training, culture and environmental protection has also grown substantially.

President Cường highly valued the outcomes of the talks between the two parliamentary leaders and called for continued coordination between their legislatures to create a favourable legal corridor to facilitate bilateral cooperation, thus meeting the interests of both nations and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development regionally and globally.

To make bilateral cooperation more practical and effective, the host suggested strengthening political trust through more exchanges at all levels; expanding economic, trade, investment, defence-security, science-technology, education-training, culture and tourism ties; boosting people-to-people exchanges to deepen mutual understanding; and expanding partnerships to new areas that are complementary to each other.

Agreeing with these proposals, Speaker Kövér said the two legislatures would work closely to implement high-level agreements, support the two governments to bolster collaboration in all fields and support efforts to raise bilateral trade to US$2 billion in the near future.

He affirmed the Hungarian National Assembly’s readiness to promote the ratification of the EU–Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the remaining EU member countries and to support the European Commission's lifting of the IUU fishing 'yellow card' on Vietnamese seafood exports.

The Speaker praised the contributions by the Vietnamese community in Hungary and pledged continued support for their integration and development.

At the meeting, both leaders agreed that their countries would enhance coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations and within the ASEAN–EU framework. They reaffirmed their support for the peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law to maintain security and stability in each region.

In the current context of growing global strategic competition and division, Speaker Laszlo emphasised the importance of reinforcing multilateral cooperation and constructive engagement in regional and international issues for peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development.

On this occasion, he conveyed an invitation from President Sulyok Tamas for President Cường to visit Hungary. The Vietnamese President gladly accepted and said the visit would be arranged through diplomatic channels. — VNA/VNS