The "grand plan" is for Turks and Hungarians to be "winners together in the 21st century", Viktor Orbán said after signing a bilateral priority strategic partnership agreement with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“In the language of diplomacy, this expresses the strongest possible friendly, brotherly and political cooperation,” Prime Minister Orbán told a press conference after the agreement was signed. He said that although Hungarians had “lost the previous century”, the plan now was to “win the 21st century”, for which Hungary was seeking allies.

“That is what this priority strategic status is about,” he said, adding that Hungary and Türkiye wanted to work as closely together as the two peoples and countries possibly could.

Orbán said this was “a serious commitment” made in the hope that what had been laid out in the Turkish president’s programme, “namely that the next one hundred years will belong to Türkiye”, would come true.

He said Hungary would do everything it could during its presidency of the Council of the European Union next year to revamp the customs union between the EU and Türkiye as well as supporting Türkiye on the issue of visa liberalisation.



Erdogan arrives in Budapest to mark 100 years of Turkish-Hungarian diplomatic relations

Up for discussion between the Turkish President and Viktor Orban is Sweden's membership of NATO, which neither country has yet ratified.

Photo: PM's press office Benko Vivien Cher