Türkiye

Turkey-Visegrad Group foreign ministers meeting held in Budapest

Szijjártó v4 turkey

The European Union should transfer without delay all the support promised to Turkey for looking after migrants staying there because Ankara has a highlighted role in protecting the continent, the foreign ministry said citing Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó as saying on Tuesday.

Szijjártó told a joint press conference after a Turkey-Visegrad Group foreign ministers meeting that Europe was under unprecedented attack from three directions which is expected to strengthen in the future.

One of the reasons he cited was the situation in Afghanistan.

He said that following the failure of international intervention there, food supplies were in danger for some 23 million people in the country and the number of internal refugees had reached four million.

In order to present further migratory waves, the publication of statements and plans that encourage migration should be prevented and close partnership should be developed with countries on the route of migrants, he said. In terms of the latter effort, Turkey plays a key role in the protection of Europe, he added.

“The protection of Hungary’s southern borders starts in Turkey and with Turkey,” he said.

As a result, Szijjártó called on the EU to transfer the entire sum of 6 billion euros which had been promised to Ankara, especially considering that the Turkish government has already spent 40 billion dollars on looking after migrants staying in the country, the ministry said. Additionally, he said the community should support Turkey’s border protection efforts in order to prevent a further increase in migratory pressure.

Szijjártó said

the Hungarian government was strongly against the EU’s plan to sign the Post-Cotonou agreement with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States which he described as “the little brother of the UN Global Compact for Migration”.

Instead of finding ways for Africans to come to Europe, the EU should agree with Africa on how Africans can be convinced to stay at their place of birth, he said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country was looking after the largest number of refugees in the world since 2014. As a result, he said settling the Afghan situation was especially important and added that the international community should gradually establish relations with the new Talib leaders.

Jan Lipavsky

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the V4 group was an important format for cooperation and added that Ankara played a key role in the fight against illegal migration.

Zbigniew Rau

Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau called for speeding up EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and praised opportunities for economic cooperation between the V4 and Turkey.

Ingrid Brockova

Slovak foreign affairs state secretary Ingrid Brockova said it must be prevented that Afghanistan should again become a starting pont of terror attacks and migratory waves. She said increasing pressure in the Western Balkans was cause for concern.

Hillary Clinton
Read alsoHillary Clinton: Hungary is ruled by an autocratic, greedy, and corrupt leader

50 Turkish policemen will join the border protection in Hungary

Police Special Forces

Interior Minister Sándor Pintér and his Turkish counterpart, Suleyman Soylu, on Friday signed a cooperation agreement on Turkish police forces aiding Hungarian border protection efforts.

At an event after the signing ceremony, Pintér and Soylu welcomed the other country’s policemen in their native languages.

The ministry said the 50 Turkish policemen would serve at Röszke and Nagylak, on the Serbian and Romanian border, respectively.

Pintér said that talks of the border cooperation started in November, at an inter-governmental meeting of the Hungarian-Turkish high-level strategic cooperation council. Pintér and Soylu then agreed that stopping illegal migration, fighting people smuggling and reinforcing border security was a common duty, he said.

Therefore, Soylu proposed to send Turkish units to cooperate at the Hungarian borders, he said.

read also: MTVA chief discusses public media cooperation with Polish TV official

Hungarian troops will thus be able to use the experience of Turkish officers in handling illegal migration at Turkey’s eastern borders, he said. The cooperation will also boost the fight against cross-border crime, he said.

Hungary and Turkey will also exchange technological know-how on the fight against cybercrime and drug-related crimes, Pintér said.

He thanked Soylu for Turkey’s help in preserving Hungarian and European security.

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Soylu noted that at the November meeting, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the coronavirus pandemic, illegal migration, energy supply woes and the resulting economic difficulties were the main global challenges of the era.

As a result, the world also needed to face terrorism, drug crimes, cross-border crime and cybercrime, Soylu said. Those issues cannot be tackled without cooperation, he said.

Turkey participated in a similar cooperation with Serbian authorities in 2019, he said. Turkish officers there contributed to detaining hundreds of illegal migrants, and seizing large amounts of drugs and weapons, he said. Hopefully, the results will be similarly good in Hungary, he said.

Military drill Southern border
Read alsoArmed Forces hold exercise on Hungary-Serbia border

Hillary Clinton: Hungary is ruled by an autocratic, greedy, and corrupt leader

Hillary Clinton

The former US presidential candidate talked about Hungary on MSNBC with Rachel Maddow. The topic was the “rise of authoritarians around the world and elements in the United States that exploit fears of change to manipulate their way into power.”

Clinton: we are facing a crisis

They started the discussion with an article written by Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic titled “The bug guys are winning,” reported msnbc.com. Applebaum argues that the “20th century was the story of slow, uneven progress toward the victory of liberal democracy over other ideologies.” However, “the 21st century is, so far, a story of the reverse,” according to Applebaum. She also added that the strongmen of the authoritarian regimes are helping each other evade sanctions, for example. Thus, she concludes that the trend seems to be unstoppable.

Clinton said that she felt worried and concerned because

“we are facing a crisis of democracy and legitimacy.

A crisis that really goes to the heart of what the future of our country and many others around the world will be,” the former Senator and Secretary of State added. Thus, she spends her time trying to figure out what to do.

First, she has to persuade more people to see what Applebaum, Maddow or herself sees. That is because propaganda and even algorithms help manipulate people. Even if it is difficult, fighting against it is worthy and necessary.

How will Biden treat Hungary?

Hungary together with Russia and Turkey

“We have to hold people accountable for their actions. Particularly when those actions threaten our way of life, our rule of law, our future as a democracy. And so I am determined to continue to speak out, to do whatever I can,” Clinton added. She argued that there is a plot against the USA by people who “truly want to turn the clock back.”

They want to stage a coup, and they back Trump,

she highlighted.

PM Orbán to Fox: President Biden personally insulted the Hungarian people!

The people who attacked the Capitol do not like the world, she said. “And they have that in common with

autocratic leaders from Russia to Turkey, to Hungary, to Brazil, and so many other places,”

she highlighted. They are driven by personal power, greed, corruption, and they weaponise the fear from change, Clinton concluded.

As telex.hu says, President Joe Biden did not invite Hungary to a December online summit. It seems like it is not only the former Secretary of State who thinks that there are problems with democracy in Hungary, the media outlet says.

biden
Read alsoBiden administration interfering in Hungary’s 2022 general elections, says Hungarian deputy state secretary

US Centre for Disease Control: Hungary among most dangerous destinations

budapest airport

The coronavirus has been present since its discovery in China in late 2019. It has hit the rest of the world at the beginning of 2020. Since its first appearance, we are currently in the fourth wave of the pandemic. The number of infections has surged in many regions around the world triggering stricter restrictions on travel and human interaction.

According to the latest information of the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday, Hungary is among the most dangerous countries in terms of Covid infection. Moreover, the health organisation discourages individuals from travelling to Hungary unless it is really necessary.

CDC Recommendations

The CDC has four tiers of risk assessment for COVID-19. Level one is the least risky while level four is the most dangerous in terms of contracting the virus.

On Monday, November 15, the CDC moved a total of four countries to level four, including Hungary, Iceland, Guernsey, and the Czech Republic.

As CNN reports, these countries now have been added to the other 70 unsafe countries among which there are many popular tourist destinations. These include Belgium, the Netherlands, Singapore, Turkey, and many more at level four.

These Hungarian employers made vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for their workers

Minister told when 5-11-year-olds can receive the vaccine

CDC recommendations about Hungary:

  • Avoid travel to Hungary.
  • If you must travel to Hungary, make sure you are fully vaccinated prior to your departure.
  • Due to the current situation in Hungary, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.
  • Travellers should follow all recommendations and requirements in Hungary, including wearing a mask and staying 6 feet apart from others.

Statistics

This new regulation is not that surprising since the number of infections has been steadily rising in the past few months in Hungary. According to the latest Hungarian data, 5,323 new cases of coronavirus infections have been registered with over 5,800 active infections treated in hospitals. Alarmingly, 545 people are on ventilators. On a more positive note, over 6 million people have received their first jab in Hungary.

Hvg reports, that recently the Czech Republic has also placed Hungary on the list of countries not recommended for unnecessary travel. According to the map of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, almost all of Hungary is deep red which indicates a high rate of Covid infections.

EU Coronavirus Infection Map November 10
Source: ECDC

Make sure to observe safety regulations while travelling and interacting with people. Be safe and keep healthy.

Bazilika Christmas fair
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MTVA chief highlights Turkey, Hungary public media cooperation

Dániel Papp, the chief executive of Hungary’s public media provider MTVA, underlined the importance of cooperation between the Hungarian and Turkish public media services in connection with a bilateral agreement signed in Ankara.

MTVA signed an agreement with Turkish state media service TRT and Turkish state news agency Anadolu during a high-level Hungarian delegation’s visit to Ankara last week.

Under the agreement, the partners will expand cooperation involving joint television productions and between two country’s national news agencies, Papp told public news broadcaster M1 on Monday.

Papp said that Hungarian and Turkish public media forged strong ties earlier, too, noting a 2+2-year cooperation agreement signed in 2013 that saw the production of thematic programmes on Hungarian and Turkish television.

The Turkish news agency has subscribers in 100 countries and offices in 41, and it publishes news in 13 languages, he said.

The Turkish news agency wants to become a global news agency, and Hungary’s news agency and Hungarian public media can be a partner in this endeavour by serving as their base in Central Europe.

He said MTVA’s Turkish partners expressed increased interest in Hungarian economic, investment, tourism and cultural news and it was agreed that the two news agencies would speed up and increase the volume of their news exchanges.

“Hungarian news agency MTI has an English-language service, which is important because it is easier to use for foreign consumers, for instance in Asia, and this could contribute to the strengthening of economic ties, too,”

the MTVA head said.

Moscow
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Hungary to offer much more scholarships for Turkish students

Graduation University Higher Education

Bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy, science, research and training is ongoing, PM Viktor Orbán said in Ankara after meeting Turkish President Erdogan. Hungary has increased the number of scholarships for Turkish students from 150 to 200, he said, adding that some stipends are for students of nuclear studies.

Orbán said that for Hungary nurturing a friendly, strategic alliance with Ankara, as well as with Berlin and Moscow, was salient geopolitically, noting that Europe confronts health, economic and energy crises on all fronts. Orbán noted that Hungary-Turkey trade ties increased by more than 30 percent during the period of the pandemic and totalled almost four billion dollars. At the start of the crisis, Turkey supplied raw materials to Hungary for the production of PPE, he added.

He said crisis management in Hungary centred on foreign investments, and he noted that a packaging industry behemoth is implementing the biggest ever

Hungarian-Turkish investment near Kaposvár, worth 70 billion forints (EUR 192m).

Orbán and Erdogan planted a tree of Hungarian-Turkish friendship in the garden of the Ankara Presidential Palace before a meeting of the Strategic Council. After the talks, Hungarian ministers signed nine cooperation

This is how Azerbaijanis and friends of Azerbaijan celebrated flag and victory day in Budapest! – PHOTOS

 

agreements in military, scientific, industrial, cultural, technological, tourism, sports and youth areas.

Dániel Papp, the chief executive of Hungary’s public media provider MTVA, signed an agreement with the Turkish state media service TRT and Turkish state news agency Anadolu. Cooperation that dates back many years will be expanded with joint productions and broader cooperation between the country’s respective national news agencies, he said.

The Hungarian delegation returned 101 ancient works of art seized at the Hungarian border in 2016 by the Hungarian authorities.

On Friday, Orban attends the summit of the Turkic Council in Istanbul.

hungary budapest-panorama
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PM Orbán in Ankara: Europe needs allies expanding the continent’s line of defence

Turkey-Orban-Erdogan
Europe is in need of allies who can expand the continent’s lines of defence, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday.
 
Without them, Europe will crumble, Orbán told a joint press conference after a meeting of the Hungarian-Turkish high-level strategic cooperation council, adding that Turkey was one of the countries contributing to Europe’s defence. Hungary is asking Brussels to provide more direct financial support to Turkey in its fight against migration, he said.

Orbán noted that
 
Europe was facing migration waves from the directions of the Mediterranean, the Western Balkans and Belarus.
 
The prime minister called on the European Union to support the construction of Turkey’s border walls on the country’s southern and eastern borders and help stabilise northern Syria.
 
 
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó assured his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau of Hungary’s solidarity and expressed thanks for Polish border guards and police protecting the borders of Poland and consequently the borders of the European Union. Szijjártó said on Facebook from Istanbul, where he is scheduled to attend the Turkic Council summit, that he had consulted with Rau over the phone late on Wednesday.
 
He said Rau had made a recovery and they would again sit together on the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday. “The bad news is that Poland’s eastern borders continue to be under serious pressure posed by migration,” he said.
 
“Our poor Polish friends can now experience the same thing that we have been facing as a practically continuous situation for six years, with illegal migrants refusing to obey our regulations, laws and sovereignty and attempting to violate the borders of our country in large numbers,”
 
he added.
 
“It must be clearly said that border violation is a crime and the same applies to encouraging border violation, not to mention people smuggling,” Szijjártó said.
 
All politicians in Brussels who represented a pro-migration view over the past six years, kept the mandatory resettlement quota on the agenda and denied resources from countries protecting their borders should now visit the Polish-Belarus border and “be deeply ashamed”, Szijjarto said.
márki-zay atv
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Jobbik MEP Gyöngyösi: At the border of civilizations – Ten years of Turkey

turkey

Remarks from Jobbik MEP Márton Gyöngyösi:

It is perhaps safe to say that Turkey is one of the world’s most exciting countries for any politician involved in foreign affairs. What is Turkey today? Located at the border of religions and the intersection of geopolitical interests, Turkey has been trying to carry out a daring social and cultural change for nearly a century. Where does all this lead to? Well, the question has never been more pressing than now.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has just managed to become the focus of international attention again – not that it’s so unusual for him. However, expelling the ambassadors of 10 major Western countries is a particularly harsh move even if Erdoğan eventually changed his mind and dropped the idea on the condition that the diplomats would refrain from “interfering with Turkey’s domestic affairs”.

But how could the Turkish situation escalate to this point? Back in the mid and late 2000s when I became active in politics, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had just taken the power a couple of years before. Turkey had gone through difficult decades with constant tensions between the army, their favoured pro-West elite and the rural religious groups. This period of Turkey’s history was marked by military coups and civil unrest. 

This was the background that saw the rise of the AKP, which promised democratization, economic liberalism and western norms while also supporting the religious feelings of the conservative societal groups.

Although the AKP was often accused of having a hidden agenda and heavily criticized for its Muslim religious convictions, I followed Turkey’s political events with great interest and optimism at the time. I was curious whether Turkey manages to synthesize the pro-West and Muslim ideas that were equally characteristic of the country. The first results were quite convincing, actually. Despite the global economic crisis, Turkey kept making progress and developed from a poor country with several third-world traits into a regional medium power. Although there were some suspicious signs, the country seemed for a long time to be able to manage the pressing cultural, religious and ethnic problems.

Perhaps we can now state that these goals were not accomplished and the changes at work since the mid 2010s clearly swept away the earlier achievements.

Starting out as a party intent on harmonizing Islam with a pro-West and pro-European progress, the AKP turned into a quasi party-state while President Erdoğan, who had risen from a rural, religious family to the political forefront, became a tyrant who uses the most brutal of means to subdue his opponents. 

The Turkish currency dropped to a fraction of its value within a couple of years, and Turkey’s former diplomatic influence faded away: the country’s relations with its surroundings is highly controversial again. The fully state-controlled media spreads conspiracy theories while the Kurdish peace process came to a complete halt and has been in reverse ever since.

Seeing the president threatening Western European diplomats makes it painfully clear that Turkey’s political system has got to the point where this “populist foreign policy” is the last resort for the government to try and cover up such problems as the economic depression and the growing crisis.

In a functional democracy, the judicial system and the inherent checks and balances would likely have intervened long ago.

However, Turkey had only one check in its system: the army, the brutality of which was just as far from the European norms as the political forces it acted against. Turkey doesn’t seem to have arrived where it set out nearly a century ago. The question is: will it ever arrive?

migration turkey
Read alsoEU enlargement commissioner calls for ‘new kind of partnership’ with Turkey

Turkish people smuggler sentenced to 5 years imprisonment in Hungary

Jail prison human smuggler
A local court in north-western Hungary has sentenced a Turkish national to five years in prison for smuggling 45 Syrian illegal migrants in his truck.

A spokesman for the court said that the defendant had charged the migrants 5,000 euros for helping them cross from Hungary into Austria. Hungarian police, however, stopped the truck on motorway M1, and detained the driver and the passengers. According to the appealable sentence, the Turkish man has also been banned from Hungary for 10 years.

Source: MTI

Featured image: illustration

EU enlargement commissioner calls for ‘new kind of partnership’ with Turkey

migration turkey

The European Union needs to establish a “new kind of partnership” with Turkey both in terms of economic cooperation and their joint handling of migration, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said in an interview published by daily Magyar Nemzet on Monday.

Várhelyi noted his visit to Afghanistan last week for talks on efforts to prevent a new migration wave out of that country.

“One key difference from the situation in 2015 is that right now it’s still not too late to prevent a crisis,” Várhelyi said. “But this requires us to take the right steps, learn from the lessons of 2015 and concentrate on prevention.”

Other differences compared with 2015, he said, were that Turkey had strengthened the protection of its borders, but also the challenge the Afghanistan crisis presented to Turkey and Europe.

The current crisis “has shown that there is no other way but to work together with Ankara”, Várhelyi said.

He added, at the same time, that the EU also needed to boost cooperation with the Western Balkan countries on the issue of migration. The commissioner said he had recently held talks with the leaders of all the Western Balkan states that are taking in migrants and highlighted the security aspects of immigration.

Várhelyi said

the Afghanistan crisis had also demonstrated “the serious consequences of not being strong and consistent enough in our geopolitical decisions”.

“Let’s imagine what would happen if the accession process of our Western Balkan partners were drawn out even further and — for some geopolitical reason — what ends up happening is not what we had promised,” Várhelyi said. “And geographically, the Western Balkans is much closer to us than Afghanistan. This means Europe’s priority must be to integrate this region.”

As regards the EU-Western Balkans summit scheduled for October, the commissioner said he looked forward to seeing which parts of the EU’s economic development plans for the region could start getting implemented. “The aim is to support long-term stability and peace in that region,” he said.

Concerning the accession process of Albania and North Macedonia, Varhelyi said both countries were meeting all criteria for beginning the accession talks.

On Serbia, he said it was up to EU member states whether almost all accession chapters could be opened before the end of the year.

Another Hungarian mission to happen in Afghanistan?

military

“We need to prevent a terrorist threat and further migration waves”, said the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The last US military planes left Afghanistan yesterday, bringing an end to a 20-year-long war. The Taliban hailed their victory with gunfire after the troops exited the country. The situation escalated very quickly in the past two weeks. The Taliban took over and are working on reorganising Afghanistan and returning to the old rules, where they had left off 20 years ago.

Afghan people desperately tried to flee the country in this transitional time, giving Europe a real reason to worry about another migration crisis.

Defence Minister: All known Hungarians in Afghanistan evacuated

Moreover, Afghanistan’s destabilisation could directly endanger Turkey’s safety. Back in April, when US President Joe Biden announced their withdrawal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his willingness to start a new mission in order to avoid it. As the Hungarian government seeks to strengthen its military cooperation with Turkey, the Prime Minister already indicated its possible future involvement.

Now that Afghanistan is in the hands of the Taliban again, the question resurfaces. Index.hu asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade about the mission jointly planned with Turkey and Pakistan.

“There is an ongoing coordination process about the prevention of mass migration and terrorist threat after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan”,

they answered.

The original plans of joint Hungarian-Turkish-Pakistani cooperation were rejected when the Taliban took control over the country’s capital, Kabul. Turkish President Erdogan, however, thought otherwise. The next day he announced that Ankara would still be open for cooperation, involving prolonging the military mission and taking part in the armed defence of the Kabul Airport.

The tragic terrorist attack at the Kabul Airport last week, claiming the lives of almost 200 people, means that the Islamic State managed to strengthen its base in Afghanistan.

It could pose a significant risk to the safety of not only the neighbouring countries but indirectly to Europe, as well.

Western military help might mitigate the situation for which the involvement of Turkey can be an accepted scenario both by the United States and the Taliban.

When asked whether the government’s standpoint changed since April and

Hungarian soldiers would join the Turkish mission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade did not reject the possibility.

They wrote: “The withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan coins several serious questions when it comes to the future safety of Afghanistan and Europe. The gravest among those is the danger of a new migration wave caused by the spread of terrorism.

This terrorist threat and new migration waves need to be prevented.

The necessary steps to do so are currently being negotiated and cooperated. However, there is no decision for now.”

Hungary-USA-Afghanistan
Read alsoHungary offers on-site help for Afghanistan, but welcomes no migrants

10-year-old migrant boy caught with tens of thousands of EUR in his pocket

Budapest boy money

A 69-year-old Egyptian man claimed that he was his grandfather.

According to atv.hu, he was caught when the police found a teenage boy wandering alone in Budapest with tens of thousands of euros in his pocket. The officers of the 11th district police headquarter found the boy on August 26, at around 4 pm, on Thököly Street.

He did not have valid documents but had tens of thousands of euros in his pocket.

Following the officers’ request, he led them to his accommodation in the 7th district of Budapest where they found a 69-year-old Egyptian man. He claimed to be the grandfather of the child. However, they could not explain why the boy was wandering in the city with such a high amount of cash.

During the police investigation, it became apparent that he is not a relative of the boy. Instead, police found three Syrian citizens in his flat, together with a Moroccan and a Turkish national.

None of them could prove their lawful staying in Hungary.

Afterwards, the Egyptian national was taken into custody, while the migrants he hid in his apartment were transferred to the police headquarters of Budapest. Finally, the father of the kid went to the police station. Based on the information gathered by the police,

the Egyptian man wanted to smuggle the boy and his father to Austria.

Meanwhile, he took rent from the migrants living in his apartment.

Police officers arrested him on the suspicion of human trafficking and requested his pre-trial detention. Authorities took the father and his son to the airport police headquarters. Moreover, they transferred the migrants found in the apartment to the border station of Tompa.

Budapest boy money
Read also10-year-old migrant boy caught with tens of thousands of EUR in his pocket

Economy cooperation with Turkic countries benefits Hungary, says minister

turkic council hungary

Hungary’s foreign policy strategy of opening to the East has proven to be successful over the past ten years, with economic cooperation with the Turkic countries greatly benefiting the country’s national economy, the foreign minister said in Istanbul on Monday.

Hungary’s exports to member states of the Turkic Council, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan, have increased by 77 percent and the volume of trade with these countries has doubled during the period, Péter Szijjártó said at a joint press conference with Baghdad Amreyev, the secretary general of the Turkic Council.

Hungary’s exports to the Council’s countries this year have gone up by 43 percent, Szijjártó said, adding that all of the country’s increasing exports had greatly contributed to achieving its economic growth target.

The foreign minister said

Hungary will join the alliance of Turkic Chambers of Commerce and Industry which will hold its next business forum in Budapest in September.

Hungary will also participate in the setting up of a Turkic Investment Fund and a Turkic Development Bank, he said.

Szijjártó further noted Hungary’s role in establishing an institute of drought prevention under the auspices of the Turkic Council. “This is expected to give a boost to the exports of Hungarian water management and agricultural technologies,” he said.

In terms of education cooperation, Szijjártó highlighted great interest among the youth in the five Turkic Council’s member states, noting a sixfold overregistration for the 870 scholarships offered at Hungarian universities.

Answering a question, Szijjártó said

Hungary had been motivated to join the Turkic Council by the great contribution its member states are expected to make as a region to the global economy in future.

Responding to another question, the foreign minister noted the participation of Hungarian companies helped by Eximbank’s 100 million dollar credit line in transport, health-care and water management infrastructure reconstruction projects in the Karabakh region.

Hungary Turkic Council Budapest
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Hungary to help stop a dangerous terrorist group?

military

Hungary might be the needed help to stop one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organisations.

In April, US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of presence in the country. The American soldiers are set to leave before September, however, it seems like it might happen even earlier, on the course of this month.

NATO troops were aiding the Afghan government since 2001 in its fight against the radical Islamist Taliban. After this decision, it seems that the terrorist group has gained some new motivation. According to some sources, almost one-third of Afghanistan’s certain territories is under the rule of the Taliban. If they gain more power, that would result in big chaos once again, not only in the country.

Turkey, for instance, could suffer the consequences. Afghanistan’s destabilisation could endanger Turkey’s safety, as well. In order to avoid this and to show a positive gesture towards the United States,

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently expressed his willingness to start a new mission in the torn-apart country

to protect the country’s most important airport in the capital of Kabul.

The Hamid Karzai International Airport is not simply the most important connecting point of Afghanistan to the rest of the world but also a military base where the Afghan Air Forces station many aircraft of high importance.

Turkey’s reaction came as a surprise but

Hungary’s involvement in the mission might be even more interesting.

It is a logical decision that Pakistan aids Turkey since their good diplomatic relations with the Taliban can be an asset when negotiating a compromise with the jihadist group.

Hungary, on the other hand, might not be the most obvious decision. Nevertheless, the country that is currently developing a stronger army might just be the solution to maintaining a kind of security situation.

The country can have several reasons to involve itself in such a mission. First, as PM

Viktor Orbán is trying to build the country’s image of a trustworthy strategical partner among NATO members,

this decision can be regarded as a positive move inside the organisation.

Orbán: Hungary aims to develop a strong and modern army

Furthermore, the Hungarian government seeks to strengthen its military cooperation with Turkey. And last, but certainly not least, Hungary is situated right on the path of migrants leaving Middle Eastern countries full of armed conflicts, writes infostart.hu. If the situation in Afghanistan gets out of hand once again, Hungary can quickly find itself under enormous pressure of crowds fleeing their country.

The official reason for Hungary’s involvement is the fact that

Many Hungarian soldiers stationed in Afghanistan’s capital between 2010 and 2013, complying with their duty to maintain the safety of the premises.

“Hungarian soldiers know perfectly the weak areas of the airport’s safety system and the local area”, quotes portfolio.hu the words of the Turkish Defence Ministry.

However, for now, it is less than certain that this cooperation between Hungary and Turkey will be born.

The Biden Administration needs to give the green light to the mission

since a complete NATO withdrawal does not mean that other troops would stay in the country, even though initially the involvement of the States was the centre of the issue. Saying yes to Turkey, Pakistan, and Hungary can lead to an aggressive reaction from the Taliban, as it is not the deal they expected to have.
Nevertheless, after the exit of the United States, it would be an immense success to reach an agreement and a compromise with the Taliban, that would avoid utter chaos in Afghanistan. Especially if Hungary would have any involvement in the process.

new army commander
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BREAKING! Hungary eases travel restrictions, further alleviation to be expected

border koronavirus.gov.hu hungary

From Wednesday, anyone can enter Hungary without restrictions at the land and water border crossing points of six neighbouring countries. Presumably, further easing of restrictions can be expected in Hungary when the number of vaccinated people reaches 5.5 million.

A few days ago, Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó announced at a press conference in Slovakia that Hungary would lift the guarding of border crossing points at its internal Schengen borders and open the border crossings previously closed due to the coronavirus epidemic. The plan entered into force this week, after the Hungarian government amended the regulation on travel restrictions. Accordingly,

from 23rd June, anyone can enter Hungary without restrictions at the land and water border crossing points of six neighbouring countries, including Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia, except by air.

The Hungarian news portal, Turizmus.com, highlighted that the opening of the borders does not affect visits to hotels, restaurants (except terraces), spas, museums, and other attractions, as these services can still be used only by citizens of countries with which Hungary has a unilateral or bilateral agreement on the vaccination certificate.

So far, Hungary has a bilateral agreement with the following countries: Morocco, Albania, Bahrain, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Northern Macedonia, Georgia, Croatia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Turkey.

In addition, the Hungarian government has signed another bilateral agreement with Kazakhstan. Accordingly, from now on, anyone can travel to Kazakhstan without restrictions if they have a Hungarian immunity certificate, and Hungary also accepts the Kazakh vaccination certificates, reported 24.hu.

However, the EU immunity certificate, which is expected to enter into force on 1st July, will only apply to vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, so those who have been vaccinated with a Russian or Chinese vaccine will need a negative Covid test to travel within the EU.

Meanwhile, Russia has also opened up to passengers with Hungarian citizenship and permanent residence if they arrive by direct flight from Hungary. According to the relevant government decree, the border crossing is open with a valid visa and a negative PCR test not older than three days.

Previously, the Russian authorities only allowed entry to passengers who arrived in the country for investment, economic, business purposes, or to visit relatives. The Russian government decree also covers citizens of Austria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Lebanon, and Mauritius, reported Index.

Presumably, further ease of restrictions can be expected in Hungary based on the announcement of Katalin Novák, Hungarian MP, according to whom

a significant portion of the current epidemiological restrictions will be lifted by the government when the number of vaccinated people reaches 5.5 million.

As Pénzcentrum reports, further details will be revealed on Thursday’s Government Info. So far, 5 million 432 thousand people in Hungary received their first vaccination, so Hungary might achieve the goal of 5.5 million vaccinated people in a week.

Regarding the possibility of easing the epidemiological restrictions in Hungary, experts highlighted that the need for mask use is still reasonable until 80% inoculation is achieved in Hungary. According to 24.hu, even though wearing a mask is uncomfortable and suffocating, it has an incredibly good barrier function, just like keeping social distance and washing hands frequently.

Thanks to all these, the spread of the new delta variant can be impeded more efficiently. As 24.hu reports, compared to other countries in the world, the presence of the delta variant is currently very low in Hungary. Numerically, only 5 cases of the mutant from India have been detected so far.

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Hungary to fight against migration with Turkey

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Hungary’s government sees strengthening cooperation with Turkey as an economic and security priority, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Friday, after meeting Turkish Minister of Trade Mehmet Mus in Budapest.

If Hungary wants to become a winner in the new era of global economic development, it has to boost its relations with the most rapidly developing countries of the world, Szijjártó said.

Trade between Turkey and Hungary surpassed one billion euros

in the first quarter of 2021 alone, a nearly 30 percent growth in annual comparison, Szijjártó said.

Further, Turkey plays a crucial rule in guaranteeing the security of Europe as a whole, Szijjártó said, referring to the 2016 EU-Turkey migration agreement.

As NATO’s withdrawal from Afghanistan could result in growing terrorism and migration, that role might take on new significance, he said.

Cooperation with Turkey should be strengthened on that front too, and the EU should fulfil its commitments, he warned.

Hungary has a vested interest in economic cooperation between the EU and Turkey, he said. He called for an upgrade of the EU-Turkey customs union and for concluding the talks on visa liberalisation, as well as for “steel tariffs that hamper cooperation in the industry as little as possible.”

Mus said Hungary and Turkey had a long tradition of friendship.

He thanked Hungary for “standing by Turkey” and said they counted on Hungary’s support during the talks on the customs union.

Turkey aims to reach a 6-billion-dollar trade volume with Hungary,

Mus said. The Turkish central bank has allocated substantial sums to finance joint projects, he said. Talks on business cooperation are expected to continue in the autumn, with joint investments and projects in African countries on the agenda, he said.

Here are the most and least popular foreign politicians in Hungary

PUTYIN, Vlagyimir

The Hungarian population is hardly divided when it comes to politics, not to mention the perception of the most significant global political figures. Latter has been confirmed by the latest Civitas Institute poll, which measured the sympathy index of foreign politicians in Hungary. In the followings, we reveal who are the most popular and least popular global politicians according to Hungarians.

Within the framework of the Civital Institute poll, respondents were asked on a five-point scale how much they liked the listed politicians. Overall, it seems that „western” politicians are more popular in Hungary than their „eastern” counterparts. However, the division of domestic political views is also an important factor that is reflected in the results of the poll. As CEA Magazine reports,

the most popular foreign politician in Hungary is the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron are in the middle-field of the overall ranking, according to which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gained the least popularity.

However, domestic political views also need to be considered. According to the voters of Fidesz-KDNP, Vladimir Putin is the winner of the ranking, followed by Sebastian Kurz and Xi Jinpiing, President of the People’s Republic of China. These respondents consider the Turkish President as the fourth and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) as the fifth most popular global political figures. As CEA Magazine reports, the preference of pro-government voters might be explained by the Hungarian government’s „Eastern Opening” foreign trade policy and the Covid-19 vaccine programme. At the end of the list, we can find Joe Biden, which serves as a shred of evidence that the political views of the US President are the least likeable for Fidesz voters.

Not surprisingly, the ranking of opposition voters shows totally different results. In their case, the most preferred political figures represent the European Union and the United States. Based on their responses, Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition politician, has the highest sympathy rates, followed by Ursula von der Leyen in the second and the US President in the third place. In the case of opposition voters, the least popular politicians are Xi Jinping and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The popularity of Russian politicians in both cases suggests the significant impact of Russian politics on Hungary.

Considering the different rankings, it can be concluded that the global political preferences of Hungarians depend significantly on their domestic political views. As a result, pro-government voters and opposition supporters are strongly divided in the field of international politics as well.

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Hungary has significant role in NATO, says foreign minister

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Hungary’s role in NATO is more significant than ever, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Sunday, ahead of a summit of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Szijjártó told a press conference in Brussels that Hungary is slated to take over the leadership of KFOR, NATO’s operation in Kosovo and the alliance’s largest operation on land, in November.

Hungary has raised the number of its troops to 500 men in Kosovo and has pledged to coordinate KFOR staff’s vaccination against the coronavirus, he said. Meanwhile, it is providing ventilators for its “partners in the east and south” through NATO’s coronavirus relief fund, he said.

Hungary will also play a leading role in a joint air defence operation in the Baltic states next year, he said.

Honouring a commitment made at the 2014 NATO summit,

Hungary will raise its defence spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2024,

Szijjártó said. Defence spending will come to 1.6 percent of GDP in 2021 and 1.87 percent in 2022, he added.

The summit is held at a time of shifting political and economic relations which warrant a new approach from the alliance, Szijjártó said.

“Those changes have significant security aspects, and so Hungary supports the new NATO 2030 strategy,” he said.

Orbán discusses defence cooperation with Erdogan

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels on Sunday, ahead of a NATO summit, the prime minister’s press chief told MTI on Sunday.

Orbán and Erdogan discussed bilateral military and defence industry cooperation and strengthening economic and trade ties.

The Hungarian and Turkish foreign ministers, Peter Szijjarto and Mevlut Cavusoglu, also attended the meeting.

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