Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó
The government’s goal with energy diversification is not to replace existing sources, but to preserve them and bring in new ones, as this is the only way to guarantee our country’s long-term security of supply, Péter Szijjártó stated on Tuesday in Milan.
Speaking at the Gastech conference, the minister first emphasized that the European Union’s REPowerEU program in its current form would completely destroy the security of Hungary’s energy supply because the infrastructure does not allow for the cutting off of Russian sources. He explained, that this is due to geographical and physical reasons, not political or ideological ones, as Hungary has no coastline and the capacity of the pipelines coming from other countries is insufficient to meet its oil and natural gas needs.
Would we like to purchase more energy from more sources? Yes. Today, we are announcing the conclusion of a new long-term contract with Shell. This will be the largest and longest-term contract we have ever signed with a Western supplier,”
he said.
“But will this enable us to break away from Russian natural gas? No, due to geographical and infrastructural conditions. Not until we develop the infrastructure in the region. That is the reality,” he added.
At the energy meeting, Péter Szijjártó emphasized that although Hungary has done everything in its power to connect its network with six of its seven neighbors, as a landlocked country, it is heavily dependent on its neighbors and their neighbors.
We simply have a certain annual demand for natural gas and crude oil in order for our country to function. If we gradually phase out the use of Russian energy sources, we will not be able to maintain the functioning of the country for geographical reasons,”
he warned.
He then reported that the Hungarian government is in favor of diversification, which is why, several years ago, it joined other countries in appealing to the European Commission to expand the capacity of gas pipelines in Southeast Europe, but their request was rejected.
“They said they were not prepared to provide further funding for the region’s gas infrastructure because natural gas is not fashionable and is gradually being phased out,” he recalled.
“Now, on the one hand, we are forced to diversify, and on the other hand, we are being rejected. This has nothing to do with ideology. This has nothing to do with politics. This is the very simple reality,” he added.
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Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
The post FM Szijjártó: Hungary Needs Diversification, Not Replacement, in Energy Policy appeared first on Hungary Today.
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