Opposition Wants to Kill Cheap Russian Gas: ‘It would be better not to try this,’ Says Foreign Minister

File photo of István Kapitány and Péter Szijjártó

Hungary’s isolation is at stake. In a recent interview, István Kapitány, Tisza Party’s (largest opposition – editor’s note) economic policy chief suggested that they would put an end to Russian energy imports, which would have immediate and serious economic consequences. Both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade rejected the suggestion.

As expected, István Kapitány’s interview with ATV on Monday evening did not go unanswered. In it, the Tisza Party’s economic policy chief said that Hungary could be disconnected from Russian energy sources, gas and oil after 2027.

On Tuesday morning, Viktor Orbán responded to the comments on his social media page, and FM Péter Szijjártó also reacted harshly.

The cat is out of the bag. On his first day at the job, the Tisza’s new economic policy chief announced that he would cut Hungary off from cheap Russian energy. Now we know why he was sent: to carry out what Brussels had come up with,”

the Hungarian Prime Minister began his post.

He emphasized that since the outbreak of the war, the Hungarian government has been fighting to prevent Hungary from being cut off from Russian energy sources. This is not a matter of taste or preference. “We are doing this because it is Hungary’s cheapest and most important energy source.

Without Russian gas, there will be no reduction in utility costs. Without Russian oil, gasoline prices will skyrocket.

You can talk about mysterious technical solutions, but these are facts. Facts that the latest ship captain does not even care about. It seems that the itinerary in Brussels is more important…” he said.

Before the Prime Minister’s speech, FM Szijjártó also issued a statement.

It took less than 48 hours to find out why he was delegated to the Tisza Party, Brussels’ Hungarian party.

In his opinion, if Hungary were cut off from Russian energy sources, utility costs for Hungarian families would roughly triple, and the Hungarian economy would also suffer a severe blow, as rising energy prices would jeopardize the operation of factories and put tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

Hungary can obtain cheap crude oil and natural gas from Russia, which allows us to maintain the results of the utility cost reduction and ensure that Hungarian families pay the lowest utility bills in Europe, he emphasized.

In Szijjártó’s view, István Kapitány “is, of course, speaking scientifically when he talks about diversification, which means that energy sources must be purchased from multiple sources,” but the Hungarian government has made serious efforts to achieve this: among other things, they signed a long-term gas purchase agreement with Shell when he was still the company’s global vice president.

But if Hungary cannot purchase crude oil and natural gas from Russia in the future, it will mean brutal price increases for families and businesses alike. The livelihoods of families and the operation of factories, and thus jobs, would be at risk if Vice President Kapitány were to carry out the task he received from Brussels and cut off cheap Russian crude oil and natural gas from Hungary, he warned.

It would be better not to try this.”

“Let us say no to utility price increases, let us say no to a threefold increase in utility bills, and let us say yes to protecting the results of utility price reductions,” Szijjártó concluded his statement.

Via Világgazdaság; Featured image: MTI/KKM

The post Opposition Wants to Kill Cheap Russian Gas: ‘It would be better not to try this,’ Says Foreign Minister appeared first on Hungary Today.

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