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Türkiye has reinforced its strategic partnership with Hungary, expanding cooperation in trade, energy, defence, and innovation following high-level talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in İstanbul.
The two leaders met at the Dolmabahçe Presidential Office, where they emphasised strengthened bilateral relations and set new targets for the coming years. Erdoğan noted that the countries are close to meeting their existing goal of $6 billion in trade and said both sides now aim to raise this to $10 billion.
Agreements were signed across defence, energy, transportation, culture, education, and technology, bolstering the institutional framework that underpins the partnership. Viktor Orban said that Türkiye also confirmed its continued facilitation of Russian oil and natural gas supplies to Hungary, transferring 7.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas in 2025 — a role that has become central to Europe’s wider energy security.
Speaking to AnewZ, political analyst Zoltan Egeresi said Hungary’s strategic alignment with Türkiye reflects changing geopolitical realities. “From Hungary’s perspective, Türkiye is a key country in terms of security,” he said, noting that Ankara’s position between Europe and Asia gives it a unique influence. He added that the experience of the 2015–2016 migrant crisis demonstrated how developments in the Middle East and North Africa “somehow affect the Balkans and Central Europe”, making cooperation with Türkiye essential.
The meeting also marked 2025 as the Türkiye-Hungary Science and Innovation Year, during which 28 joint initiatives in research, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship have been launched.
Egeresi told AnewZ that deeper defence and energy cooperation will continue to shape the partnership. “Our trade is booming,” he said, pointing to the new $10 billion target. From his perspective, the close political dialogue “will open the way for further trade agreements and investment opportunities”, as Turkish companies expand in Hungary and Hungarian firms enter the Turkish market.
Erdoğan also underscored Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts towards peace in Ukraine and acknowledged Hungary’s support for Türkiye’s EU accession ambitions. The two sides agreed to establish a joint planning group led by their foreign ministers to coordinate on bilateral and global issues.
Both governments signalled that the expanding cooperation — particularly in defence production — reflects a growing alignment on regional security. Egeresi said that, since 2016, Budapest has been “one of the loudest supporters of Türkiye”, adding that Hungarian policymakers view Türkiye’s stability as “not just important for Hungary itself, but generally for the region”.
The discussions highlighted Türkiye’s role as a stabilising regional actor and set the stage for deeper economic, energy, and technological collaboration in the years ahead.
The U.S military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday (7 May). Meanwhile, Iran's Joint Military Command accused the U.S. of breaching the ceasefire, by striking an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and launching attacks on several Iranian cities.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, though both sides signalled they did not want escalation. The clashes come as Washington awaits Tehran’s response to a proposed deal to end the war while leaving key disputes, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
Singapore has isolated and is testing two of its residents who travelled aboard a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) said on Thursday.
Efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war appeared to stall as the two sides exchanged fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz. A reported CIA assessment suggested Tehran could withstand a U.S. naval blockade for months despite mounting sanctions and renewed Gulf attacks.
Ukraine’s military said it struck a Russian Karakurt-class small missile carrier in the Caspian Sea near Russia’s Dagestan region on Thursday. The extent of the damage is still being assessed, according to Kyiv.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to carry on as leader on Friday (8 May) after his ruling Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Labour lost hundreds of councillors across the country, as some figures in the party said he should stand down.
Indonesian rescue teams have located two Singaporeans who went missing after Mount Dukono erupted on Friday (8 May) on the island of Halmahera, though authorities say it remains unclear whether they are alive.
Health authorities are monitoring a widening hantavirus alert after new suspected cases emerged in Spain and on a remote South Atlantic island, days after an outbreak on a cruise ship left three people dead and several others infected.
The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) on Friday (8 May), following an order from President Donald Trump. U.S. officials described as a push for “unprecedented transparency”.
Russia is holding a significantly scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow on 9 May 2026, reflecting heightened security concerns and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
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