“Whether you like it or not, the reality is that the safe and natural gas supply provided for our country at a preferential price is not possible without co-operation with Russia,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó claimed on Thursday as he attended the international gas forum in St. Petersburg.
He announced that state-owned energy group MVM and Russia’s Gazprom have signed a supplementary commercial contract ensuring the continued delivery of Russian gas at competitive prices.
This happened a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed out to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the European Parliament that all other EU member state had found alternative sources of energy since Russia invaded Ukraine.
While the EU strives to be independent of Russian gas completely, Hungary is the only member state that does exactly the opposite, she remarked.
In a social media post Szijjártó asks suspicious questions such as “In whose interest is it to give up this kind of co-operation? and: Why do some people want to endanger Hungary’s energy security, economy and families?
“It is not our job to satisfy those who put pressure on us; it is our job to ensure the safe
supply for the country,” he declared.
Hungary’s gas supplies are secured by the 15-year contract signed with Gazprom in 2021, he added. Under the new agreement with Gazprom Hungary will receive 6.7 billion cubic metres of gas this year and next year it will purchase a
quantity which will make use of the entire ca-
pacity of the TurkStream pipeline.
Szijjártó said the upcoming expiry of the
gas transit agreement between Russia and
Ukraine will not pose a problem for Hungary,
as alternative routes to receive Russian gas
through Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia have al-
ready been established, ensuring the uninter-
rupted flow of energy.