Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed energy cooperation between the two countries and the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession during their meeting in Budapest on Sunday. The Hungarian PM posted a single photo on social media, with the brief caption ‘Hungarian–Turkish summit’.
As the talks were held behind closed doors and there was no press conference that followed the, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó shared the main topics that the two leaders had discussed. The foreign minister emphasised that there has been a strategic partnership between Hungary and Turkey, and the parties had previously agreed to elevate this cooperation to an even higher level. Accordingly,
the Turkish President will visit Budapest again on 18 December for a strategic council meeting,
during which the countries will sign the agreement establishing the enhanced strategic partnership and mutual emergency assistance.
‘This clearly demonstrates the commitment between the two countries to enhance cooperation and also indicates that both countries derive significant benefits from this bilateral collaboration,’ stated Péter Szijjártó.
Szijjártó highlighted that unfortunately, several recent events have made agreements of this nature relevant and justified. ‘Turkey plays an extremely important, even indispensable role in ensuring the energy security of Hungary, as a significant portion of natural gas deliveries to Hungary comes through Turkey via the Turkish Stream gas pipeline,’ he pointed out. He further explained that Turkey’s transit role will strengthen with the implementation of the Hungarian–Azerbaijani natural gas supply agreement and with the potential initiation of Turkmenistan’s gas exports towards Europe.
Additionally, he underlined that the energy cooperation will gain a new dimension
as gas supplies will soon also originate directly from Turkey,
following the finalisation of an agreement between MVM and Botas for the purchase of 275 million cubic metres of gas next year. ‘This 275 million cubic metres of natural gas will contribute to the energy security of the country and establish a physical gas transport connection between Turkey and Hungary,’ he formulated. ‘We will also progress on this matter, as a decision has now been made to initiate negotiations on the Hungarian storage of Turkish natural gas,’ he noted.
Finally, the minister reported that
the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership was also discussed,
and he reminded that both the Hungarian and Turkish parliaments are in summer recess, so the consideration of this issue will become relevant again in the autumn. ‘We have agreed to stay in continuous consultation and contact, keeping each other informed about the progress of national parliamentary procedures and processes,’ he said.
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