Minister of State for EU Affairs Szabolcs Takács held discussions with Minister for EU Affairs of Turkey Volkan Bozkir on 7 April 2015.
The parties concerned discussed the current issues of the EU-Turkey relations, the matter of Turkey’s accession to the EU and the development of the Turkish-Hungarian bilateral relations. Mr. Takács and his Turkish counterpart exchanged their views on the current state of negotiations of the free trade agreement between the United States and the European Union (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), their impact on Turkey, as well as their opinions concerning the possibilities of tightening trade relations between Turkey and the EU. The Turkish party has initiated expert level consultations on these matters and has expressed its wish to continue the excellent high-level political consultations between the two countries on issues related to the EU as well.
The Minister of State emphasised that Hungary consistently supports Turkey’s accession to the EU; furthermore, it attaches great importance to Turkey’s participation in the negation on Central Eastern Europe’s energy security, as Turkey has become a partner of strategic importance in this area as well. Mr. Takács explained his counterpart that concerning the accession procedure, Hungary regards the early opening of chapter 15 on the cooperation in the field of energy especially important, a standpoint which Hungary has voiced at various forums of the EU as well.