The two countries celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey and the initiation of Hungarian-Turkish diplomatic relations with a Hungarian-Turkish cultural season starting on 18 December. On the occasion of the anniversary, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also visit Budapest.
Erdoğan spoke about the issue of Sweden’s NATO membership during a press conference held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before travelling to the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. He stated that Turkey would approve Sweden’s NATO membership if the European Union resumes accession negotiations with his country.
Given Erdoğan’s pro-Ottoman policies, many were a bit surprised that the first to congratulate him in his victory, even two weeks before the runoff when he was projected as the frontrunner, was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The paradox in this is that both are ardent defenders of their respective faiths that have historically been in conflict with each other.
The Hungarian Prime Minister congratulated Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the phone on his victory in the first round of the presidential election in Turkey.
The Hungarian foreign minister condemned the burning of an effigy of Turkish President Erdogan in Stockholm as ‘shameful and disgusting’.
The threat of escalation in the Middle East is growing following Saturday’s deadly strike by Hezbollah on an Israeli-controlled settlement in the Golan Heights. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has even gone so far as to threaten Israel with an invasion.
After Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated on Wednesday that Ukraine was ready to negotiate with Russia if Moscow ‘acts in good faith’, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Thursday that Russia was willing to negotiate with Ukraine even if Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains president. Viktor Orbán’s peace mission has undoubtedly contributed to these positive developments towards peace, and the Hungarian Prime Minister could play a crucial role in mediating further talks.
Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, discussed Viktor Orbán’s peace mission and its impact in a lengthy post on X. He wrote: ‘The winds of change are upon us; it’s time for European leaders to overcome years of war psychosis!’
After some details had been circulating in the press for days, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán decided to release his ten-point proposal and assessment he had sent to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, following his peace mission. The document is the most detailed plan for achieving peace in Ukraine that has ever been made public since the war broke out in February 2022.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó discussed the consultations between Hungary and Türkiye at the NATO summit as part of the ‘peace mission’ initiated with Hungary’s assumption of the rotating EU presidency.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.