16:10, 7 February 2024

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has visited the Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák and Pázmány Péter Catholic University Rector Géza Kuminetz welcomed the Armenian President.

“It’s a great honor to be here in this 400-year-old educational center,” the Armenian President said. He described his visit as very meaningful because the Pázmány Péter Catholic University is one of the “symbols of the Armenian-Hungarian historical and cultural relations.”

The Armenian President recalled that as a result of the 2016 agreement signed with the Armenian State Pedagogical University, the Pázmány Péter Catholic University established a Department of Armenian Studies, which, according to Khachaturyan, “was truly a historic event aimed at the development of the traditions of Armenian studies.”

Today, 45 Armenian students from various countries study at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University. They receive scholarships from the Hungarian government and the Gulbenkian Foundation.

President Khachaturyan praised Dr. Balint Kovacs, the head of the Department of Armenian Studies at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, for his daily efforts aimed at developing the area.

Kovacs is among the 2024 laureates of the Pro Cultura Minoritatum Hungariae award which pertains to Hungary’s national minorities. Khachaturyan said that the professor received the award for his academic work concerning Armenian studies, the cultural heritage of the Armenian Catholic Church, and the foundation of the Department of Armenian Studies at Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

The Armenian President pointed out the potential for development of bilateral ties not only in humanitarian sector, but in all sectors of science, especially in IT, AI, biotechnologies, pharmaceuticals and others.

During the visit the Armenian State Pedagogical University and the Pázmány Péter Catholic University signed another agreement.