Hungarian Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog and Turkish Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Faruk Celik signed a social security agreement on 24 February in Budapest.
The bilateral agreement settles the social security related affairs of the two countries in the long run, on the basis of reciprocity. It primarily focuses on the situation of those insured under Hungarian and Turkish law, entitled to social and health insurance as well as pensions.
Under the agreement, the working years providing the basis for pensions acquired in the two countries can be added up, which will allow avoiding situations where people cannot receive pensions because they have not reached the minimum threshold of working years of the given country. In certain cases, where the number of working years still does not reach the required minimum, working years in third countries can also be taken into account.
Based on the agreement, if according to the national legislation of one of the countries working periods shorter than one year cannot be taken into consideration when calculating the pension, this amount of time will be taken into account in the other country as if acquired there. The agreement guarantees the payment of pensions, that is, their amount cannot be decreased due to the fact that the person entitled to it lives in another country at the time of provision.
The agreement also allows for persons – and their relatives – on temporary assignment in the other country to benefit from health insurance covered by their home country in the country of assignment. Moreover, it also allows for pre-planned medical interventions to be carried out in the country of assignment, provided that a prior approval was granted.
The agreement also contains provisions for disabled employees fully in line with European Union guidelines. Furthermore, it also creates a more favourable legal environment which is expected to boost Hungarian-Turkish economic relations.