President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on their successful reelection bid, Turkey’s Communications Directorate said in a statement.
Erdoğan yesterday congratulated Orban for his fourth election victory and discussed the latest situation in the Ukraine-Russia war with him, saying that Ankara continues its efforts for the establishment of peace. Erdoğan also said he believed the two leaders would carry relations, “which take their strength from a common history and culture,” between Turkey and Hungary further in the new period while he underlined the necessity to enhance cooperation in the defense industry.
On the other side, Vucic won 58.55% of the vote, the State Election Commission said on Monday after counting 96.19% of ballots. But his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) will need a partner to form a government as it fell short of a majority – 42.92% – in concurrent voting for parliament.
Congratulating Vucic on his victory in Sunday’s presidential election, Erdoğan on Monday said he believes that the two countries’ friendship will be strengthened further with solidarity and sincerity
In a phone call, Erdoğan and Vucic also discussed bilateral ties as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, the statement said.
Telling how the entire region was affected in numerous ways by the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdoğan also reiterated that Turkey will continue to do its best to establish peace.
He also pointed to the need to give constructive messages and provide more stability and security to the region in this difficult period.
For his part, Vucic stressed the importance for Serbia and its economic development of good relations with Turkey, as well as for peace and stability in the region.
Vucic, Serbia’s president since 2017, also said he hoped that he would soon have the opportunity to exchange views with Erdoğan on strengthening bilateral cooperation, as well as on regional and global issues.
The preliminary outcome suggested the SNS would have to seek coalition partners to solidify its domination in the 250-seat parliament, after a 2020 vote that was largely boycotted by the opposition, which left the SNS and its allies with 188 seats.
Under Serbia’s constitution, a new government must be formed within 90 days of parliament being sworn in.
