At a joint press conference held with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stressed that there is a need to develop a solution to ensure gas supply to Central Europe – and thus to Hungary – via Turkey.
“We have to develop a solution to ensure gas supply to Central Europe - and thus to Hungary -via Turkey,” the Hungarian prime minister said. According to him, it is a Hungarian aim to ensure that gas comes to Hungary – among other states – from the south via Turkey, thus “guaranteeing Hungary’s gas supply even after 2019–2020.”
He explained that the fact that the plans for the Nabucco and South Stream pipelines have failed, and that the Russians do not intend to transfer gas to Europe via Ukraine by the end of the decade, raises the question of “how to solve Hungary’s gas supply.” Regarding this issue, he noted that we are virtually under a blockade from the direction of Romania and Croatia, since even though Hungary has implemented the investments necessary for mutual gas transfer routes, the other party has failed to do so.
Consequently, “Hungary has been cornered”, meaning that Turkey plays an especially enhanced role, since the Russians have decided to transfer gas to Turkey, the Prime Minister said.
He mentioned nuclear energy as a possible field of Turkish-Hungarian energy cooperation in bilateral training programmes and technological developments.
He added that during the negotiations held with Mr. Davutoğlu they agreed that they will not approve of increasing tensions in Eurasia in the future. “Instead of being faced with the question of East or West, our interest is to be allowed to say East and West,” Mr. Orbán said, urging cooperation in which both Europe and Asia find their place on the basis of mutual advantage.
Among Hungarian-Turkish economic results, he mentioned that the Hungarian Eximbank is going to open a representation in Istanbul, and Hungarian exports to Turkey reached a record of USD 2 billion last year; the aim, however, is to achieve trade exports worth USD 5 billion.
He also pointed out that a credit line of USD 170 million has been launched for SMEs and an investment fund worth USD 25–25 million has also been set up.
Regarding the positive outcomes resulting from cooperation between Hungarian and Turkish businesses in third markets, he mentioned that there is ongoing joint gas production in Russia and the Black Sea region, and the aim is to expand it to other countries as well.
He described as important the agreement between Budapest and Istanbul according to which they will launch a trial water programme in Istanbul.
Mr. Orbán thanked the Turkish government for making possible visa-free travel for Hungarians to Turkey. He also accepted an invitation to Turkey from his Turkish counterpart.
At the press conference, the Prime Minister was asked whether he stands by what he had said in a speech in Tusnádfürdő (Romania) about “illiberal democracy”, and about Turkey being a role model for Hungary.
In response Mr. Orbán said that even if he had not said those things, he would be glad to comment on them. He urged caution in following other countries’ examples. “There is Turkey, for instance, which we deeply respect – but building a successful Turkey requires successful Turkish people,” the Prime Minister said, stressing that a successful Hungary needs Hungarians.
However, he pointed out that everyone should examine the question of how it is possible that while the EU was earlier considered the world’s most successful economic region, this has significantly changed in recent years, and now countries like Turkey, Russia prior to the Ukraine war, China and Singapore, “that by the way, do not follow European ideologies, have recorded huge successes.”
It is worth Hungary examining why Turkey is successful, he said, referring to the fact that Turkey has Europe’s highest birth-rate, thus of all the continent’s countries it is in Turkey that family values are considered the most important. The moral of the Turkish story for Hungary is that “If we want to be successful, we have to take family seriously.”
According to Mr. Davutoğlu, Hungarian-Turkish relations have been improving rapidly and Ankara is ready to give its complete support to Central Europe in the field of energy.
At a press conference held with Prime Minister Orbán, he stressed that Turkey is open to cooperation on energy issues and ready to provide Central Europe and Hungary with all the assistance necessary.
Mr. Davutoğlu welcomed the idea of Turkey playing a special role in Hungarian foreign policy, and thanked Hungary for supporting the accession of Turkey to the EU.