Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó warns of rising utility costs and energy vulnerability due to EU and Ukrainian initiatives during his visit to Athens.Continue reading
“Russia is ready to continue supplying cheap natural gas and crude oil to Hungary despite all difficulties, while Ursula von der Leyen and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plans would double or triple utility costs,” said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Thursday in St. Petersburg.
According to a statement from the ministry, the Minister reported on his talks with representatives of the Russian Government and energy companies, stating that that the new plan developed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would ban Hungary from purchasing Russian oil and natural gas, which would quickly double or triple utility costs in the country.
We find this unacceptable and will not allow Brussels and Kyiv to interfere in our sovereignty.”
It is our sovereign decision who we buy energy from, when, and on what basis. We will not allow ourselves to be pushed into unilateral dependence, we will not allow the two oil pipelines leading to our country to be merged into one, and we will not allow the largest natural gas pipeline leading to Hungary to be shut down,” he said.
“Furthermore, we will not allow Hungarian families and the Hungarian people to pay two, three, or four times as much for utilities as they have done so far,” he added.
The Minister announced that during the day, the Russian Government and representatives of the largest energy companies had agreed to maintain strategic cooperation in the energy sector despite the difficulties and the undermining efforts in Brussels and Kiev.
We continue to rely on Russian energy sources, so we will continue to maintain the lowest utility bills in Europe,”
he said.
“The heads of the largest Russian energy companies have made it clear that, despite the difficulties and obstacles in Brussels, they are ready to continue supplying Hungary with cheap natural gas and cheap crude oil in the coming period,” he emphasized.
“The construction of new reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant is continuing. Crude oil deliveries to Hungary are continuing, and the Turkish Stream gas pipeline is still operating at full capacity. This ensures Hungary’s energy supply, and most importantly, the leaders of Russian energy companies and Russian political leaders are committed to ensuring the supply of cheap Russian crude oil and natural gas to Hungary in the future, despite all the difficulties,” he summarized.
During the day, Péter Szijjártó also met with Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Denis Manturov and Alexander Novak, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev, and Gazprom Board Chairman Alexey Miller, among others.
Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó