Hungary and Serbia to Build New Oil Pipeline to Save EU Energy Supply

In order to preserve the achievements of utility cost reductions, Hungary is building a new oil pipeline with Serbia, which could be operational as early as 2027, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Budapest.

Following talks with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Dedovic, he emphasized that Brussels is repeatedly making decisions that severely undermine European energy security.

“They want us to stop using Russian crude oil and natural gas, and to close transport routes. We can see the result in Europe: we now have to pay several times more for energy than in other parts of the world,” he said.

“We Hungarians have so far been able to preserve the achievements of utility cost reductions, but Brussels now wants Hungarian families’ utility costs to increase two to four times compared to what they have been so far by giving up Russian crude oil and natural gas. We will not allow this. We must not close transport routes or cut Europe off from its sources, but rather open up new ones for European energy supply and build new pipelines,” he continued.

Péter Szijjártó emphasized that this could reduce energy prices in Europe, which is why Hungary, in cooperation with Serbia, is building a crude oil pipeline between the two countries with a transport capacity of up to five million tons per year.

“In Hungary, this will require the construction of 180 kilometers of new pipeline, and if we make good progress, this new pipeline could be operational by 2027,”

he said.

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