Within the framework of the “Asian Diplomatic Days” of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungarian and Asian diplomats took part in a panel meeting, which was hosted by the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT). The diplomats from Bangladesh, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam met with representatives of the ministry and discussed current issues of the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Mr. Márton Ugrósdy, strategic deputy director of IFAT welcomed the guests together with Ms. Diána Szőke, moderator of the conference and Mr. Bence Németh, the main organizer of the event on the behalf of IFAT. Mr. Ugrósdy introduced briefly the institute’s main fields of research relevant to the event and also added that IFAT often gives home to high-level visits. He also pointed out that as an independent research institution, IFAT is open to initiatives of cooperation with Asian think tanks in order to establish new relationships.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was represented by the Department of Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Department of International Organizations, the Department of North America, the Department for Security Policy and Non-Proliferation and the Secretariat of the Ministerial Commissioner for Hungary’s V4 Presidency in 2017/2018. The Hungarian parties highlighted that in order to ensure the future of the European Union and to preserve its competitiveness on the long run, it is cardinal to broaden the spectrum of partnership programs with a special emphasis on the ASEAN countries. The diplomats shared their experiences and perceptions regarding the integration processes and their challenges. The participants further discussed the future of ASEAN and the EU in terms of security policy and they also addressed the prospects of the two forms of integration.