“It is in the interests of both Hungary and Europe for there to be stability in Turkey, and Sunday’s election results contribute to this”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a telephone statement to Hungarian news agency MTI on Sunday evening in response to the Turkish election results.

Early presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Turkey on Sunday. According to the as yet unofficial results, Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was once again elected as the country’s President.

Mr. Szijjártó said Turkey’s stability requires a President with whom agreements can be reached and who complies with those agreements.

“It is doubly in Hungary’s interests for there to be stability in Turkey, because if the county loses its stability then the enforceability of the migration agreement between the European Union and Turkey would also be called into question. This in turn would lead to a new wave of illegal immigration, which would reach Hungary’s southern border extremely quickly in view of the fact that there is no other line of defence in the Western Balkans”, the Minister said.

Mr. Szijjártó also told the press that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had already congratulated President Erdoğan by telephone and had been the first European leader to do so.

“Based on the election results, the Government expects both European-Turkish and bilateral Hungarian-Turkish cooperation to develop dynamically in the upcoming period”, the Minister added.

(MTI)