Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán Makes First Official Visit to Canada


October 19, 1999
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien today announced that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will make the first-ever official visit to Canada of a Hungarian head of government, October 27-31. Prime Minister Orbán will be accompanied by Hungarian Economic Affairs Minister Attila Chikan, Minister in Charge of the Prime Minister's Office István Stumpf, as well as delegation of senior officials, bankers and business people.

"I look forward to my discussions with Prime Minister Orbán whose country, now a member of NATO, shares with Canada a commitment to a strong and peaceful trans- Atlantic region," said the Prime Minister. "This visit will serve to strengthen the Canada- Hungary economic and trade relationship and will provide Prime Minister Orbán with an opportunity to meet representatives of the Hungarian immigrant community who have made such a strong contribution to Canada."

On October 27, the Hungarian prime minister arrives in Ottawa, where he will meet Prime Minister Chrétien and other Canadian ministers, pay calls on the Speakers of the Senate and House of Commons, lay a wreath at the Peacekeeping Monument, and attend an official dinner in his honour at the National Gallery of Canada.

Prime Minister Orbán travels to Toronto October 29, where he will speak to the Empire Club and meet Canadian investors and business leaders. He will leave Canada October 31, following visits to Montreal, Hamilton and Niagara Falls. In each city he visits, the Hungarian Prime Minister will meet members of Canada's large Hungarian community, many of whose families came to Canada following the 1956 uprising.

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