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Türkiye and Hungary are set to open a new chapter in their bilateral relations on Monday, as Prime Minister Viktor Orban travels to Ankara for the Seventh Meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
At the same time, senior officials from both nations will gather in Istanbul for the inaugural session of the Türkiye–Hungary Joint Consultation Mechanism.
Speaking to Hungary Today aboard his flight to Türkiye, Orban said both nations understand that “war has only losers,” adding that this belief forms the basis of their cooperation to encourage peace.
He noted that Hungary and Türkiye hold annual High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meetings, which he described as equivalent to joint government sessions.
These gatherings allow Orban and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss developments in Europe and Eurasia “as two friends” for several hours.
Orban said that when these annual meetings began, the two countries aimed to double bilateral trade from €2–2.5 billion.
“We have now reached €4.5–5 billion,” he said, adding that Turkish presence in the Hungarian economy has expanded, as has Hungary’s footprint in Türkiye.
He listed four key agenda items in current bilateral discussions: the economy, migration, the war in Ukraine, and energy.
Pointing to the significance of the TurkStream pipeline, Orban said cheaper Russian gas currently reaches Hungary only through this route, and the Ukraine conflict has further increased its importance.
Orban also praised Türkiye’s recent role in concluding key international agreements, noting that in the past four years, “only Türkiye managed to finalize significant deals such as enabling Ukrainian grain shipments to reach Africa.”
He reiterated that Türkiye and Hungary share the understanding that promoting peace is in the interest of both nations and the wider region.
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