By: V4 Agency
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday, PM Orban’s press chief, Bertalan Havasi, has told journalists.
The Turkish foreign minister arrived in Hungary as part of an official visit at the invitation of Peter Szijjarto, his Hungarian counterpart.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Orban, the two politicians discussed various aspects of Turkish-Hungarian relations and exchanged thoughts on current global and regional issues. They also discussed their experiences with regards to coronavirus defence. OM Orban informed his guest that as Hungary is successfully procuring large vaccine quantities, it currently fares better than most EU member states in terms of mass vaccination.
The participants also touched on the issue of Hungary’s Economic Recovery Action Plan, a government-sponsored scheme to assist the post-pandemic recovery with wage subsidies, a loan moratorium and tax cuts, as well as free loans for small businesses, PM Orban’s press chief, Bertalan Havasi, said.
According to the Turkish foreign ministry, the other goal of Mevlut Cavusoglu’s visit to Budapest is to prepare the fifth meeting of the Turkey-Hungary High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara this year, which will be co-chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban.
Hungary’s security, health, economic and energy interests all require the country to continuously strengthen its co-operation with Turkey, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, after talks with his Turkish counterpart.
FM Szijjarto emphasized that more than 4 million migrants are currently staying in Turkey. If they were to set off for Europe all at once, “we would all be in big trouble”, especially since illegal immigration now also carries a health risk, he added. He called on European politicians in Brussels to keep this in mind when striking a critical tone with Turkey.
Mevlut Cavusoglu has called Hungary a strategic ally of Turkey.