Sweden’s NATO ratificaton on agenda at Hungary-Türkiye summit

Hungary-Türkiye energy cooperation and the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession were on the agenda of talks in Budapest between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Sunday.

Hungary and Türkiye have maintained a strategic partnership, while the sides agreed earlier to build an even closer cooperation, Szijjártó said.

To that end, Erdogan will again visit Budapest on 18 December to attend a meeting of the high-level strategic council and sign an agreement under which the two countries would cooperate as key strategic partners and  provide mutual aid in emergency situations, he added.

“This shows the dedication of both countries to enhancing cooperation and the fact that both countries clearly profit from this mutual cooperation,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there have been several events recently that make such agreements timely and justified,” he added.

“Türkiye plays an extremely important and indispensable role in securing Hungary’s energy supplies, considering that a significant part of natural gas supplies arrive in Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline,” Szijjártó said.

Türkiye’s role as a transit country will grow even further after the the Hungary-Azerbaijan natural gas transport agreement enters into force and after Turkmen exports start in the direction of Europe,” he added.

Energy cooperation will enter a new phase also because natural gas supplies can start from Türkiye thanks to the finalisation of an agreement between Hungary’s MVM and Türkiye’s Botas on the purchase of 275 million cubic metres of gas in the next years, he said.

“The 275 million cubic metres of gas will contribute to securing the country’s energy supplies and establishing physical natural gas transport links between Türkiye and Hungary,” he added. Additionally, a decision has been made on starting talks about the storage of Turkish gas in Hungary for a fee, he said.

Szijjártó said the ratification of Sweden‘s NATO accession was also discussed and since both the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments are currently in recess, the issue will be returned to the agenda in the autumn.

“We agreed that we would maintain continual consultations and stay in touch, informing each other on the state of parliamentary procedures and their progress,” he said.

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