Photo: Kormany.hu
Eurasia/MTI
08/12/2025 21:02
Viktor Orbán recalled that this was their 32nd meeting, and emphasized that historical perspectives help in understanding the cooperation between the two peoples and the two countries. Hungary is in the West but belongs neither to the Slavic, nor the Germanic, nor the Latin world, as “we left our relatives in the East,” he reminded.
He added that maintaining relations with the Turkic world is of enormous significance. This has always been the case, except for the past hundred years, when Hungary’s ties with the Turkic world thinned out, he noted.
Orbán also said that after 2010 President Erdoğan drew his attention to the fact that “new times are coming” and that the Turkic world would gather tremendous energy. At that time he invited Hungary to the Council of Turkic States, first as an observer, and since then this cooperation has been continuously strengthened, he recalled.
In the region surrounding Hungary, the truly vital, emerging and strengthening world is the Turkic world, the Hungarian prime minister underlined, adding that since Hungarians have cultural and ancestral roots there, they want to take advantage of the benefits and opportunities arising from this.
This is why we elevated our cooperation to a special strategic level, he indicated.
Orbán recalled that when he first negotiated with President Erdoğan, the annual Türkiye–Hungary trade volume was 2.5 billion dollars. This has now grown to nearly 6 billion dollars, but the president of Türkiye has set the goal of reaching an annual trade volume of 10 billion dollars, which Hungary welcomes, he stated.
The Hungarian prime minister also addressed the Russian–Ukrainian war. He stressed that it is important for Hungary that, together with Türkiye, it belongs to the camp of peace concerning the current Russo–Ukrainian war.
We see no solution on the battlefield, and if there is no solution on the battlefield, then peace must be made, he declared, highlighting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already made serious efforts in the past in the interest of peace.
He was the first successful mediator in this war, and today we agreed to coordinate our peace-making efforts, he said.
At the same time, Orbán expressed his thanks to President Erdoğan for his migration policy. If Türkiye did not protect Europe and, directly on its southern edge, Hungary, life in Europe would already be unlivable, and we would be drowning “in a sea of illegal migration,” he said.
He pointed out that Türkiye intercepts several hundred thousand illegal migrants every year, and more than three million such people currently live in the country.
On behalf of Hungary, Orbán thanked the president for helping to ensure that “this modern civilizational development does not sweep us away.”
The prime minister stressed that Hungary will do everything to ensure that Türkiye’s efforts are recognized in Brussels and in the European Union.
Orbán added that he also discussed energy issues with his host. Hungary recently reached an agreement with the United States that the American sanctions imposed on Russian gas and oil would not affect our country, then managed to agree with the Russians as well that they would continue to supply us. And today they agreed with President Erdoğan that Türkiye will secure the route for all this, he announced.
The Hungarian prime minister emphasized that this guarantee is “a serious matter,” and it may well be needed, since this year alone 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas arrived in Hungary via Türkiye.
At the briefing, the prime minister thanked the president of Türkiye for the energy cooperation opportunity, then stressed that the largest energy companies of the two countries are cooperating with one another.
Following Monday’s talks, we have the best expectations regarding political, energy, economic and defense cooperation between Hungary and Türkiye, Orbán said.
The European economy has changed; the defense industry is becoming increasingly important. The bridges have been built that make defense-industry cooperation between the two countries possible, Viktor Orbán stated.
