Erdogan-Orban teamwork

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently paid an official trip to Budapest, in a bid to forge deeper trade and economic ties with the Central European state and create bonds with Hungary’s far-right leader and European evangelist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Erdogan’s visit coincides with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between modern day Turkey and the Republic of Hungary. It is also a crucial period due to worsening hostility within the European Community on the issue of war in Ukraine and ties with Moscow under Vladimir Putin. The two leaders signed a joint political declaration moving their relations to an advanced strategic partnership level, which manifests the closest, friendly, fraternal, and political cooperation between their nations. Both leaders toasted their adversaries and jointly announced that Turks and Hungarians will be victorious together in the 21st century.

In the prevailing scenario, Europe is embattled with itself and internal cartels, monopoly of major nations, unimaginable US influence on foreign policy and political matters of the EU Community together with NATO’s expenditures on foreign military campaigns had caused conflict of interests among the member states. Several EU states are currently mulling over the prospects of their departure from the bloc. Turkey, the sole Muslim European country, EU and NATO member state, feels itself unfit in the alliance because of diverging security and economic interests, whereas western bloc is also uncomfortable with President Erdogan, whose policies are more aligned with the Russian Federation than NATO and the US. The same situation exists with Hungary’s far-right leader Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, although sits in the EU council but speaks on behalf of Kremlin and authoritarian Putin regime.

Interestingly, the like minded Erdogan and Orban have plunged the European Union into a unique quandary, as both are resolutely resisting Poland’s bid for NATO membership and do not comply with anti-Russia sanctions imposed by the United States and allies, instead both Countries are vigorously consolidating their ties with Russia and China. Hungary has still not voted to approve Sweden’s entry into NATO, and Turkey linked its vote with US’s provsision of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara. The Erdogan-Orban alliance has vowed to be victorious in this century, however, their teamwork would be more visible in the days ahead.