IPC-MERCATOR COMMENTARY - INSTRUMENTALIZING MULTILATERALISM: PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN VISITS HUNGARY FOR THE

IPC-MERCATOR COMMENTARY December 2023 INSTRUMENTALIZING MULTILATERALISM: PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN VISITS HUNGARY FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 2023 László Szerencsés, 2023/24 Mercator-IPC Fellow Hungary and Turkey are currently enjoying exception- and while Hungary is a member of the EU, Turkey is a ally good relations.1 While differences have surfaced candidate country and has a Customs Union with the between. [...] Notably, these efforts are ex- meetings21 with politicians from Central Asia and Tur- pected to be intensified during Hungary’s Presidency key serve as tangible evidence of Hungary’s continued of the Council of the European Union in the second half relevance, attempting to counter the criticism that the of 2024. [...] Organization of Turkic States: Boosting Orbán’s Confidence and His Regime’s From Multilateralism to Bilateralism Legitimacy Meetings such as the December 18 meeting betwe- en Orbán and Erdoğan are an integral element of the For Hungary’s Orbán, cultivating a positive relations- transactional relationship23 between Ankara and Buda- hip with the Erdoğan regime serves as an alternative pest. [...] While December 18.16 this strategy may yield short-term gains, it also results Notably, Hungary has assumed a significant role by dip- in the isolation of both Turkey and Hungary within the lomatically and financially supporting the opening of Western alliance. [...] Although the Turkey-Hungary part- an OTS office in Budapest in 2019, which is the only nership garners publicity, particularly through the OTS, such office in the EU.17 Demonstrating its commitment the long-lasting damage to the credibility and reliabi- to the organization, the Hungarian government has ge- lity of the two countries within NATO and the EU could nerously provided a villa for the org.