Turkish-Hungarian relations will likely get a new boost as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans to visit the European country on Dec. 18. It will be Erdoğan’s second trip to Budapest this year.
During his visit, Erdoğan will take part in a meeting of the Hungarian-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Bertalan Havasi, the press chief for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, told local news outlet ATV in a report broadcast on Monday.
Relations between Türkiye and Hungary were elevated to the level of strategic partnership in 2013 after establishing the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.
The friendly ties have gained momentum in every field in recent years.
In his last visit to Hungary, Erdoğan described relations as “advanced strategic partnership.” On the commercial side, the two countries seek to increase their bilateral trade volume to $6 billion (TL 173 billion). Hungary has also supported Türkiye’s European Union accession bid after it joined the bloc in 2004. Incumbent prime minister Orban said the EU was unfair to Türkiye back in 2018 and called for it to make up its mind whether it should engage in comprehensive, deep cooperation with Türkiye or not.
Erdoğan’s visit comes when both countries remain the only NATO members who have not ratified Sweden’s accession into the trans-Atlantic military alliance. Havasi didn’t immediately respond to further questions from the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday about the trip.
It wasn’t clear whether Erdoğan and Orban would discuss Sweden’s NATO membership, which has been delayed for more than a year by Hungary and Türkiye. All 31 NATO allies must endorse the accession of a new member.
The Turkish government has delayed Sweden’s ratification over accusations that Stockholm is too soft on the terrorist groups PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), two security threats for Türkiye.
The delays have frustrated other NATO allies, who were swift in accepting Sweden and Finland into the alliance after the neighboring countries dropped their longstanding military neutrality following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Finland became a NATO member in April after Türkiye and Hungary were the last two members of the alliance to ratify the Nordic nation’s accession.
The Turkish leader submitted a protocol to the Turkish Parliament in October to approve Sweden’s admission. A debate on the matter in the foreign affairs committee was adjourned earlier this month without reaching a decision yet. It wasn’t known when the Parliament will resume the debate.
Orban’s government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told “blatant lies” about the condition of Hungary’s democracy but hasn’t given specific conditions for approving Sweden’s accession. Hungary’s governing Fidesz party has refused proposals by opposition parties to hold an immediate vote on the matter, leading some critics to allege that Orban is following Ankara’s timetable for ratification.
Orban has recently said that Hungary is in “no rush” to ratify Sweden’s accession, and a senior Fidesz lawmaker said that he saw “little chance” that Parliament would vote on the matter this year.
