The Prime Minister of Hungary Victor Orban will visit Iran at the top of a high-ranking delegation while the ex-prime minister of Hungary Carol Gross had last travelled to Tehran 27 years ago in 1988.
Viktor Orban's meeting with Vice President Jahangiri on Monday morning will be followed by the signing of a few documents and MoUs of cooperation between the two countries. The Hungarian PM is scheduled to hold a separate meeting with the Iranian president as well.
Hungary enjoys certain features in Europe with parliamentary democracy being the political system where the president is the head of state but the prime minister possesses the executive power as the head of government.
Hungary joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004 but despite compliance with general policies, sometimes holds independent national positions. For instance, during the Ukraine crisis, despite condemnation of the occupation of the Crimea, it criticized the West for crackdown on Russia.
Since Hungary has recently been faced with a wave of Syrian refugees at its borders, it has repeatedly considered ISIL as a threat to the region and the world.
The volume of economic exchanges between Iran and Hungary has been minimal and the joint commission for bilateral cooperation has not had any meetings since November, 1993; therefore, the signing of cooperation documents between the two sides would be highly significant.
Hungarian authorities are keen to diversify its energy resources.
Beginning of bilateral relations between Iran and Hungary dates back 90 years, but the bilateral economic ties remain on a small scale.
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