Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Your Excellency, President Erdoğan,
I look around and see that we are in a special place. The President has never brought me here before, even though this is our thirty-second meeting. So first of all, on behalf of our delegation and myself, I would like to thank him for bringing me to this historic location. It is special to be here. I would like to tell the members of the press that when I hold talks with the President of Türkiye we also adopt historical approaches, and when we incorporate these historical perspectives into our work they form valuable parts of these discussions. These historical perspectives aim to assist us understand the deep cooperation between our two peoples and our two governments.
Hungary is in the West, but in the West it stands alone. There are three worlds in the West, three cultures: there is a Germanic world, a Slavic world, and a Latin world. And we are the only ones who are in none of these, because we left our relatives in the East. This is why our relationship with the Turkic world is of enormous importance to us. This has always been the case, except for the last hundred years. Over the last hundred years history has unfolded in such a way that Hungary’s relationship with the Turkic world has weakened, been devalued, and has all but evaporated. We know the historical explanations for this; yet the most important thing is not those explanations, but the light shone on this historical perspective by President Erdoğan at a meeting sometime after 2010, when he told me that new times are coming, the world will be different, and that the Turkic world will gather a great deal of energy. Later I saw that there was a grand plan, entitled “The Century of Türkiye” or something similar, and then he invited us to join the Organization of Turkic States – with due caution, of course, only as observers, because who knew what would happen when the Hungarians showed up. And since then we have been continuously strengthening Turkic–Hungarian cooperation, cooperation between the Turkic world and Hungary – spearheaded by cooperation between Türkiye and Hungary. And when I look at the world surrounding Hungary, I see that the truly vibrant, emerging and strengthening world is the Turkic world. And since this is where we have our cultural and ancestral roots, we would now like to take advantage of the benefits and opportunities that arise from this, which is why we were happy to raise our cooperation to the level of priority strategic cooperation.
When I first had talks with the President, Turkish–Hungarian trade was worth 2.5 billion dollars; now it is almost 6 billion, and the President has just announced that he would like to see it reach 10 billion dollars, which we welcome.
It is important for us that, together with Türkiye, we belong to the peace camp in the current Russo–Ukrainian war. We believe that there is no solution on the battlefield, and if there is no solution on the battlefield, then peace must be made. We acknowledge President Erdoğan’s efforts with appreciation. He was the first successful mediator in this war, and today we agreed to coordinate our peace-making efforts.
I took advantage of today’s meeting to thank President Erdoğan for his migration policy. If Türkiye were not protecting Europe and Hungary, right on its southern edge, life in Europe would be unliveable today, and we would be swimming in a sea of illegal migration. The fact that this is not the case in Europe today is thanks to Türkiye. Every year hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants are arrested, and more than three million migrants are living here in Türkiye. Mr. President, on behalf of Hungary, we would like to thank you for helping us to ensure that this modern civilisational development does not sweep us away. Hungary will do everything in its power to ensure that Türkiye’s efforts are recognised in Brussels, in the European Union.
Today we discussed energy issues. You may have heard that Hungary has agreed with the United States that the American sanctions imposed on Russian gas and oil will not affect Hungary. You may also have heard that last week we agreed with the Russians that they will continue to supply the oil and gas that is crucial for Hungary’s energy supply, as we have no other source of supply. And today I agreed with the President that you, the Turks, will secure the route so that we can transport it from Russia to Hungary. On behalf of Hungary, I would like to thank the President for guaranteeing this route for us. This guarantee is a serious matter, and it may well be necessary – think of Nord Stream. This year alone, we have brought 7.5 billion cubic metres of gas into Hungary through your country. I would like to thank the President for the opportunity for the cooperation between our two countries’ largest energy companies. Recently we invited a Turkish company to participate in Hungarian production, and Turkish companies are even building a gas-fired power plant in Hungary. We would like to thank the President for this as well.
After today’s talks, I can say that we have high hopes for political, energy, economic and defence cooperation between Türkiye and Hungary. As the President has said, this is a major new chapter: the European economy has changed, the defence industry is becoming increasingly important, and bridges have been built between the two countries that enable defence industry cooperation. Therefore, on behalf of the Hungarian government and the Hungarian people, I would like to thank President Erdoğan and his government for everything they have done for us so far, and for the cooperation they have made possible for us.
God bless Türkiye!