President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to visit Hungary’s capital, Budapest, on Monday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Türkiye-Hungary Friendship Agreement of 1923 and discuss bilateral cooperation in areas including culture, trade and diplomacy.
Besides the political agenda, the two countries are expected to work on a road map to increase the bilateral trade volume, which stands at $3.3 billion (TL 95.64 billion) so far this year, to $6 billion.
Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Hungary, interrupted after World War I, were reestablished with the Treaty of Friendship signed in Istanbul on Dec. 18, 1923.
Erdoğan, who will travel with Cabinet members, will meet with Hungary’s President Katalin Novak as well as Prime Minister Victor Orban.
The High-Level Strategic Council Meeting will also be held. Ministers of the two countries will evaluate all relations aspects and sign new agreements.
Türkiye exports various products to Hungary, from cotton textiles to iron and steel goods, especially motor vehicles, machinery and electronic devices. Among the products imported from this country, machines and devices, boilers, plastic and plastic-made goods, motor vehicles and organic chemical preparations stand out.
Important agreements are also being signed between the two countries in the energy field. This year, the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) and Hungarian public natural gas company MVM signed a natural gas export agreement this year. According to the agreement, Türkiye plans to export natural gas to Hungary starting next year. The two countries are also expected to cooperate on using Türkiye’s liquefied natural gas infrastructure and natural gas storage facilities.
On the other hand, the two countries will discuss cooperation with third-world countries and entities. Türkiye and Hungary cooperate with the European Union and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS). Africa is expected to be on the agenda as another field for cooperation.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Türkiye’s Ambassador to Budapest, Gülşen Karanis Ekşioğlu, said that the "2024 Türkiye-Hungary Culture Year" will be launched within the scope of Erdoğan’s meaningful visit.
"We will raise our relations from the ‘strategic partnership’ level to the enhanced strategic partnership level. Energy, economic and commercial relations, defense industry and cultural fields stand out as priority areas for the development of cooperation."
Relations between Türkiye and Hungary were elevated to the level of strategic partnership in 2013 after establishing the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
"In particular, 2023 was a year in which our bilateral relations gained momentum with mutual contacts and visits at the highest level.
"This is the most concrete indicator of the importance we attach to our mutual relations," the ambassador added.
Ekşioğlu reiterated that Novak, Orban and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto paid visits to Türkiye. In these high-level visits, they expressed their solidarity at the highest level due to the earthquakes on Feb. 6. Meanwhile, Orban also attended Erdoğan’s oath ceremony following the elections in Türkiye.
She underlined that the two countries are in solidarity with NATO and all other international organizations. Hungary is among the countries that support Türkiye’s EU membership process. "We believe that Hungary, which will assume the EU term presidency in the second half of 2024, will positively contribute to this process," Ekşioğlu added.
Gaza, NATO
The continuing Israeli attacks on Palestinians and the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza are also expected to be on the agenda of the two leaders. Türkiye, since the start of the conflict on Oct.7, has called for a cease-fire and tried to rally the international community to raise their voice against crimes committed by Tel Aviv.
Moreover, Erdoğan and Orban are also likely to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership, which has been delayed for more than a year by Hungary and Türkiye. All 31 NATO allies must endorse the accession of a new member.
The Turkish government has delayed Sweden’s ratification over accusations that Stockholm is too soft on the terrorist groups PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), two security threats for Türkiye.
The delays have frustrated other NATO allies, who were swift in accepting Sweden and Finland into the alliance after the neighboring countries dropped their longstanding military neutrality following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Finland became a NATO member in April after Türkiye and Hungary were the last two members of the alliance to ratify the Nordic nation’s accession.