Foreign minister decorates Turkish counterpart

A statement from the foreign ministry quoted Szijjarto as referring to the “unprecedented challenges” of the recent past, such as the financial, migration, and health crises, as well as the war in Ukraine.

“When such troubles occur … you will know who is a true friend,” Szijjarto said, adding that Cavusoglu had “always been a true friend to Hungary and hopefully he will stay so.”

Szijjarto said he had met his counterpart in 2015 for the first time, for talks on a possible transit for Hungary’s gas supplies through Turkiye, which “seemed utopistic at the time”. “But today, if it was not for the Turk Stream pipeline, we could not import gas via Turkiye, and could not talk about a secure energy supply for Hungary,” he insisted.

Among the achievements, he also mentioned lifting the visa requirement between the two countries.

“Another important cornerstone of our friendship is that both countries’ foreign strategies are built on mutual respect,” Szijjarto said, adding that while Turkiye was a world power, during his talks he had never felt that “representatives of countries from two different dimensions are talking to each other”.