After being appointed recently, the new Foreign Minister of the Republic Türkyie, Hakan Fidan paid a visit to Hungary within a short time. This proves the significance of the strategic ties between Hungary and Türkyie, said Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó after their bilateral talks. Before the meeting of the two Foreign Ministers, and at the invitation of the Diplomatic Academy of Hungary, Hakan Fidan offered some remarks on the bilateral relations, as well as the challenges facing Türkiye, to young diplomats in the Ybl Villa. After this he answered the questions of the students of the Diplomatic Academy of Hungary. The event was opened by Miklós Lengyel, the deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ambassador János Hóvári, the Executive Head of the Representation Office of the OTS, the Ambassadors of the two countries, as well as the project directors of the Representation Office, its staff and the invited guests were also taking part in the above talk.
During the press conference after the bilateral talks Péter Szijjártó stressed that in our new geopolitical and world economic era Türkiye possesses a greater than ever significance which is a defining feature in the physical and energy security of both Hungary and that of the whole of Europe. The Minister appreciated the policies of Türkiye that rein in the waves of immigration which puts a great financial burden on its shoulders. Péter Szijjártó pointed out that Türkiye plays a key role in the energy security of our country, since by today Russian natural gas reaches Hungary via the TurkStream pipeline, and without it the supply would become impossible. He welcomed the fact that this year more than two billion cubic meters of natural gas have been transported to Hungary, which greatly helps our preparations for the winter. He also added: the Sides have also reached an agreement on close cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, with a special respect to the fact that Hungary and Türkiye are building a power plant with the same technology and with the same contractor. In such a way, the exchange of experiences is important.
Péter Szijjártó underlined that in the future Türkiye may become one of the ten largest economies in the world. For this reason, the EU would greatly need this cooperation, since the competitiveness of the continent has continuously been weakening, and it would be a luxury if we gave up the opportunity the build close ties with this rising neighboring country. This is the reason why Hungary urges that the cooperation between the EU and Türkiye should once again be put on the basis of sincerity and respect. We urge that there should be closer than ever partnership between the Sides, since this would strengthen the physical and energy security of Europe, as well as improve its competitiveness. The Minister also called the modernization of the customs union and the granting of the visa free regime important.
Answering questions from the journalists, Péter Szijjártó stated that on the issue of the ratification of the NATO membership of Sweden, the Governments of Hungary and Türkiye have been informing each other continuously, and this will not change in the forthcoming period of time either.
