@szerlasz.bsky.social
Researcher at SUITS in Stockholm ▪️ Former Mercator-IPC Fellow ▪️ PhD from University of Graz ▪️Turkey's foreign policy
I contributed a short prediction to @turkeyrecap.bsky.social's 2026 outlook on 🇹🇷–🇭🇺 relations.
Core take: Hungary’s 2025 election may change rhetoric, not fundamentals.
Energy, migration, and Turkey’s hub role will still dominate the relationship. www.turkeyrecap.com/p/2026-predi...
From @“gmfus.bsky.social : Hungary’s 2026 Elections: The Stakes and Challenges. Information, insights, analysis.
Worth watching every second, but key food-for-thought for me:
youtu.be/swZ36J4g4KA?...
"Unpacking Turkey-Hungary relations with László Szerencsés (@szerlasz.bsky.social)" hosted by @diegocupolo.bsky.social. [5/5]
14.12.2025 06:09 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0This promises to be really interesting.... I had mostly written this relationship off as "populist authoritarians of a feather, flock together" but László's argument is more nuanced than that and suggests something more deeply buried in the histories of Turkish and Hungarian nationalisms.
09.12.2025 18:05 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
🎙️I enjoyed speaking with @diegocupolo.bsky.social on @turkeyrecap.bsky.social about Turkey-Hungary relations and their broader implications for the liberal international order, including energy, EU politics, and the Organisation of Turkic States. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiSM...
10.12.2025 13:11 — 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Delighted to have former SUITS postdoctoral researcher @reubensilverman.bsky.social’s book with @universitypress.cambridge.org in my hand! Reuben spent much of his time at the @stockholm-uni.bsky.social Institute for Turkish Studies working on the book.+
08.12.2025 15:39 — 👍 12 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
🎙️I enjoyed speaking with @diegocupolo.bsky.social on @turkeyrecap.bsky.social about Turkey-Hungary relations and their broader implications for the liberal international order, including energy, EU politics, and the Organisation of Turkic States. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiSM...
10.12.2025 13:11 — 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
🎙️ Live webcast announcement!
Researcher László Szerencsés ( @szerlasz.bsky.social) joins us to unpack Turkey-Hungary ties, energy connectivity and Monday's Erdoğan-Orbán meeting.
Livestream: Wednesday Dec. 10 @ 0900 UTC / 1200 TRT
I’ll be joining Turkey recap tomorrow at 10:00 (CET) to discuss Turkey-Hungary relations.
We’ll look at how the relationship has evolved, from energy and defence cooperation to civilizational ties and their implications for the EU.
🔗 Join here live: open.substack.com/live-stream/...
💥Hungary’s energy purchases could’ve funded about one-tenth of Putin’s war in Ukraine, if all revenues were used for war, Hungarian daily Népszava reports.
💰Between Feb 2022–Sep 2025, Hungary bought €15B gas and €8B oil from Russia — €23B total. Russia’s war costs are estimated at €100–300B.
He did, and both Putin and Trump have expressed their support for him. That’s why there’s still a lingering possibility of a summit being held in Budapest.
29.10.2025 08:13 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0How do international crises help authoritarians? I wrote for the Project Syndicate 👇
28.10.2025 11:55 — 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
Honored to see my Balkan Insight op-ed 📝 cited by @jameskerlindsay.bsky.social as a ‘straightforward explanation’ (9:31) of Turkey–Serbia dynamics in his latest video 🎥. It’s encouraging to see this topic gaining wider attention beyond policy circles. youtu.be/0-t7V0EtB5k?...
18.10.2025 11:34 — 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0Today the PKK, as a follow-up to its symbolic withdrawal ceremony in July, has announced its complete withdrawal from Turkey. My recent piece at the EPC summarizes the first year of this renewed Kurdish peace process.
26.10.2025 08:20 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 1
I did a post.
"Emerging Middle Powers and World Disorder: A Reminder that Life is Nasty, Brutish, and Short in a Hobbesian World"
open.substack.com/pub/paultlev...
Our article wt @laniganamanda.bsky.social is out in Political Research Quarterly!
Using a natural experiment & interviews, we find that police recertification reform in Massachusetts prompt a recalibration of officer behavior, though not a full transformation.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Thanks a lot, and what a great video!
18.10.2025 11:42 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
He also raises an important question about the fragility of the relationship. This is a development I have been observing as well and plan to explore further in my upcoming work. More on this soon. Stay tuned. Link to the article: balkaninsight.com/2025/10/10/t...
18.10.2025 11:34 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Honored to see my Balkan Insight op-ed 📝 cited by @jameskerlindsay.bsky.social as a ‘straightforward explanation’ (9:31) of Turkey–Serbia dynamics in his latest video 🎥. It’s encouraging to see this topic gaining wider attention beyond policy circles. youtu.be/0-t7V0EtB5k?...
18.10.2025 11:34 — 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0Trump–Putin meeting in Budapest = Orbán’s dream scenario.
Two disruptors of the liberal order on home soil just months before the 2026 election. First invited to Egypt as the only Eastern European leader, he now hosts the illiberal axis. Orbán gains legitimacy without offering a single concession.
"Vucic’s outburst is best understood as an attempt to distract voters from the protests threatening his rule. His quick retraction shows that despite moments of rhetorical tension, neither side wishes to jeopardise this transactional friendship"
10.10.2025 11:01 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0@paultlevin.bsky.social @sinemadar.bsky.social @heissenstat.bsky.social @cplaisant.bsky.social @diegocupolo.bsky.social @dimitarbechev.bsky.social @fbieber.bsky.social
10.10.2025 10:43 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Outrage one day, admiration the next.
Vučić’s reaction to Turkey's drone sales to Kosovo captures the fragile pragmatism holding Serbia–Turkey relations together.
✍️ My latest in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/10/10/t...
@whitejenny.bsky.social delivering her keynote lecture on „Beyond oppression and resistance: The transformative power of theory“ at the CEST Summer School in Turin.
24.08.2025 15:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Hungary is at a crossroads - my op-ed for BI
⚖️ Orbán’s anti-Western course vs. Magyar’s cautious pro-Western shift
🛑 Vetoes could end, but migration & UA remain red lines
🚪 Silent support, not loud intervention — Berlin and the EU should give Magyar space to win
balkaninsight.com/2025/08/19/h...
💥🤯 Reaction by Hungary’s pro-Kremlin leadership to Russia’s airstrike on Transcarpathia, home to Ukraine’s Hungarian minority: Viktor Orbán’s FM Péter Szijjártó avoids naming Russia or the region. President Sulyok, Orbán’s puppet, mentions “Russian” air strike in his post—but later deletes the word.
21.08.2025 10:28 — 👍 65 🔁 32 💬 5 📌 1By floating the idea first, Magyar pre-empts Orbán and seizes the initiative. It signals to FIDESZ voters: my offer isn’t so different from his.
19.08.2025 22:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Why does Magyar, Orbán's challenger, want the Putin–Zelensky meeting to be held in Budapest? He’s preparing for the worst. If it takes place in HU, Orbàn would argue that his pro-Russia, anti-Ukraine line has been justified – and that could boost him in the 2026 elections. telex.hu/english/2025...
19.08.2025 22:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Hungary is at a crossroads - my op-ed for BI
⚖️ Orbán’s anti-Western course vs. Magyar’s cautious pro-Western shift
🛑 Vetoes could end, but migration & UA remain red lines
🚪 Silent support, not loud intervention — Berlin and the EU should give Magyar space to win
balkaninsight.com/2025/08/19/h...
Informative quick briefing on why Hungary is such an important piece of the Turkey-Russia-EU gas pipeline puzzle, by László Szerencsés for the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies.
www.su.se/institute-fo...
@szerlasz.bsky.social
