Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş hosted his Hungarian counterpart Laszlo Köver on Thursday. The meeting focused on Turkish-Hungarian ties and Türkiye’s ambition to join the European Union, whose rotating presidency is held by Budapest.

"Hungary has always supported the EU’s enlargement and has consistently backed Türkiye’s EU perspective as a friendly and close ally. I hope Hungary's presidency will be beneficial for Türkiye’s EU relations and contribute to bringing Türkiye and the EU closer together," he said at a joint news conference with Köver.

Ankara’s EU membership negotiations started in 2005 but entered a stalemate after 2007 due to the Cyprus issue and political opposition to Türkiye’s membership by several member states.

Kurtulmuş recalled that this year marks the centenary of relations between Hungary and Türkiye and that both nations have declared 2024 as a "joint cultural year," with various events planned until the end of the year to celebrate.

He stressed the significant progress made in Turkish-Hungarian relations, particularly in recent times, through the close cooperation and friendship between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

For his part, Köver said Hungary was one of the strongest advocates for EU enlargement for Türkiye among member states.

"We support Türkiye’s accession to the EU. Unfortunately, it has been a long process. Not only does Türkiye need Europe, but Europe also needs Türkiye. Given the EU's inadequate responses to its challenges, I can say that Europe needs Türkiye more."