By Beyza Binnur Donmez
ANKARA (AA) - Hungary's prime minister on Friday thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for securing his country's energy supply.
In an address to an Organization of Turkic States summit in Uzbekistan, Viktor Orban said that as a neighbor of Ukraine, the Russia-Ukraine war made them "pay a price for energy supply.”
"I would like to thank Mr. Erdogan here, because one of the prerequisites for Hungary's energy security is precisely the pipeline that passes through Türkiye's territory and is currently functioning," he said. "It is the only pipeline operating between East and West at full capacity."
He also thanked Azerbaijan for being the only non-Russian gas source for Europe.
Hungary has observer status in the Organization of Turkic States, which was founded in 2009.
- Strict EU sanctions against Russia made situation 'worse'
Mentioning how his country is also part of the EU, Orban said that the bloc's "very strict" sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war "made the situation worse."
"We thought it would weaken Russia, we thought it would force them to make peace. However, these sanctions had the opposite result," he added.
Warning that European economies are rapidly heading towards recession, he said Europe "doesn’t have the will to determine its own foreign policy" because it follows the US’ lead.
"I personally think that an economic crisis which will last for years awaits us," he said.
Orban also said Europe is exacerbating the crisis by supplying weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers on European soil.
The EU will be more involved in the conflict, as in the coming days the bloc will have to support Ukraine’s economy, he said.
However, he added, when he sees the messages of Turkic states, they only speak in favor of peace, and thanked them for that.
He also expressed his gratitude for Türkiye and Erdogan for the "only successful" attempt for mediation and for helping broker the "very important" grain deal signed in Istanbul this July, which unblocked sea-bound exports of Ukrainian grain.
On the Turkish Investment Fund, he said that Hungary supports the establishment of the fund and it would like to be part of it.
The Organization of Turkic States is an interstate bloc founded with the aim of expanding cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries in the fields of politics, economics, science, education, transport, and tourism.
Its members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan.
Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also have observer status.