Szijjártó: Erdoğan will be back in December, we will coordinate on Sweden's NATO membership starting in autumn

"Hungary and Turkey are good friends," Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on Facebook after posting a live video in which he said that the talks between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held on Sunday had addressed energy cooperation between the two countries and the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade shared the following in his live video about the Hungarian-Turkish relationship:

• Hungary and Turkey have been strategic partners;
• the level of cooperation will soon be upgraded to a priority strategic partnership;
• The Turkish President will come to Budapest on 18 December to sign the necessary documents.

"Both countries are benefiting much from this bilateral cooperation," Szijjártó said, explaining why such agreements are necessary:

• a significant part of natural gas supplies arriving to Hungary come via Turkey;
• Turkey thus plays an essential role in Hungary's energy security;
• Turkey's transit role will be further strengthened as the gas transport agreement between Hungary and Azerbaijan enters into force;
• as well as with the start of Turkmenistan's exports to Europe.

According to Szijjártó, cooperation in the field of energy will also take on a new dimension with the start of gas supplies from Turkey itself, given that an agreement between Hungary's MVM and Turkey's Botas on the purchase of 275 million cubic metres of gas next year has been finalised.

"These 275 million cubic metres of gas will contribute to securing Hungary's energy supply and will create a physical gas transport link between Turkey and Hungary," he said, “We will also be taking this further, as it has been decided to start negotiations on the storage of Turkish gas in Hungary.”

The ratification of Sweden's NATO membership was also discussed at the meeting, Szijjártó said, noting that both the Hungarian and Turkish parliaments are on summer recess, so the issue will return to the agenda in the autumn.

"We agreed to remain in constant consultation and contact, and to keep each other informed of the status and progress of national parliamentary procedures," he said.