ISTANBUL

It is not realistic to talk about Europe's security architecture without including Türkiye and Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday in the Turkish capital Ankara.

There are some ideological fanatics in Europe and they express contrary views on this issue, but these views stand on weak foundations, Szijjarto stated at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, emphasizing that there is now hope for peace in Ukraine.

*We expect Brussels' pro-war policies not to hinder (Russia-US) peace negotiations" to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he noted, adding that they wish and support the success of the talks "by every possible means."

Stating that he congratulated Fidan for his efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian War and to achieve peace, Szijjarto said: “Only Türkiye was successful between the two sides before (US President) Donald Trump.”

Emphasizing that Hungary's security interests completely overlap with Türkiye, Szijjarto highlighted: “This is the case both in terms of physical and energy security. In the past three years, Hungary and Tükiye have been the loudest supporters of the peace camp.

“The Europeans who talk about ceasefire today banned the word ceasefire for three years. I would like to remind this,” he added.

Underlining that the solution to the Russia-Ukraine War is not on the battlefield, Szijjarto said: “We find Brussels' decisions supporting the sending of new weapons and new billion euros extremely dangerous and unacceptable."

He added that these measures prolonged the war.

When asked about why Hungary did not participate in the meetings held by European countries on the security guarantees that could be provided to Ukraine, Szijjarto said, “Because we favor peace.”

When asked what Hungary's policy is regarding the security guarantees and troop deployment in Ukraine, Szijjarto said that it is important to have a ceasefire, then peace talks followed by a peace agreement.

'Hungary's energy security is not possible without Türkiye'

On energy cooperation, Szijjarto said: “Hungary's energy security is not possible without Türkiye. We are grateful to Türkiye for being a reliable partner in Hungary's energy security. 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas has reached Hungary via TurkStream. This year we exceeded 20 million cubic meters every day.”

Highlighted that the Joe Biden administration in US imposed sanctions on Gazprombank before leaving office, “These were done intentionally. He wanted to put the countries in the region in a difficult situation in terms of natural gas. This was a hostile approach by the Biden administration.”

Stating that the Donald Trump administration in the US acted reasonably and rationally, Szijjarto stated: "According to the information received from Washington yesterday, they extended our request to exempt Gazprombank from sanctions.

'We are in talks with BOTAS to buy natural gas directly from Türkiye again this year'

Stressing that they purchased natural gas directly from Türkiye last year, the Hungarian minister said, “We have started negotiations with BOTAS (Petroleum Pipeline Corporation) again this year in order to purchase natural gas directly from Türkiye.”

Noting that the two countries reached a record in bilateral trade volume last year, he said that they foresee a 10% increase this year.