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“It is good news that Bulgaria has withdrawn its law on increasing the transit fee for Russian natural gas, which would have threatened Hungary’s security of supply. Hopefully, it will be possible to return to the previous cooperation based on mutual respect,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.
The minister said during a break in the government meeting that the Bulgarian law posed serious risks for the supply of natural gas to northern Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary. “Today, I had a telephone conversation with my colleague Foreign Minister Marija Gabriel, who informed me that
yesterday the Bulgarian Parliament repealed the law that imposed extra taxes and extra burdens on the supply of natural gas to Hungary,”
he emphasized. Minister Szijjártó noted that this was good news, as it would allow Hungary to return to the situation of a few months ago in terms of security of gas supply.
“Bulgaria has always been a reliable transit partner for us, and we sincerely hope that with the repeal of this hostile law, we can return to the mutually respectful cooperation that has always characterized our relations,” the Foreign Minister added.
He pointed out that
Hungary imports 85-90% of its annual gas consumption, whereby having reliable partners both in source and transit countries is key.
He stressed that natural gas supply now largely comes from the south, through the Turkish Stream pipeline, built in cooperation with Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Serbia, despite strong international pressure, without which Hungary’s energy security would not be sustainable today.
Almost 5.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas have reached Hungary through Turkish Stream this year, while total domestic consumption is between 9 and 10 billion cubic meters per year, showing the importance of the predictable operation of the pipeline.
Boyko Borisov, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria and member of the Bulgarian National Assembly, spoke by telephone on Tuesday with his colleague and friend Viktor Orbán. They agreed that Hungary will continue to support Bulgaria’s Schengen accession, reports Index.
Boyko Borisov, chairman of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, co-chairman of the We Continue the Change party,
jointly announced that Bulgaria had withdrawn its law increasing the transit fee for Russian gas supplies.
“This morning I spoke again with my friend and colleague Viktor Orbán. I informed him that yesterday the National Assembly [the Bulgarian Parliament] had finally abolished the punitive gas transport tariff. The decision will be published in the Bulgarian official gazette at the end of the week,” Borisov said on his Facebook page. He added that “all issues between the two countries have been resolved and Hungary will continue to support Bulgaria’s Schengen accession.”
Via MTI, Index; Featured image via Pixabay
