Instead of Closure, New Pipelines Should Be Built

Natural gas pipelines should not be shut down, as Ukraine has done, but new ones should be built, as Bulgaria has done, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Thursday in Sofia.

At a ceremony marking the start of work on the Vertical Corridor project, which aims to expand the capacity of natural gas pipelines crossing Bulgaria, the Minister emphasized that Europe is currently facing a continuous supply crisis, which has arisen mainly because the energy sector has been treated as a political and ideological issue. He pointed out that this is purely a physical issue, as natural gas or oil sources and pipelines are needed for supply. “If one of these is missing, we will certainly not buy anything from there. We are aware that the more pipelines and sources we have, the better,” he emphasized.

He went on to explain that, unfortunately, the energy supply situation in Central Europe has deteriorated significantly since Ukraine stopped natural gas transit.

We believe that pipelines should not be closed, but new ones should be built and their capacity increased, as Bulgaria is doing,”

he said.

Péter Szijjártó called Bulgaria a reliable transit partner and noted that last year and this year, more than 20 million cubic meters of natural gas arrived in Hungary via the TurkStream pipeline through the country.

We greatly appreciate Bulgaria as a reliable transit partner, without which Hungary’s energy security would not be realistic,”

he said. “Today we are witnessing the relatively rapid and efficient construction of a new gas pipeline that will create a new transport route to Hungary. We are connected to this new transport route via Romania, which is why increasing the capacity of the Romanian-Hungarian interconnector is once again on the agenda,” he added.

The Foreign Minister also stated that the energy security of Central and Southeastern Europe is a genuine European issue and is vital for the supply of the entire continent.

We therefore call on the European Commission to provide funding for the development of infrastructure in the region, rather than making plans on how to destroy the security of the region’s energy supply,”

he underlined.

Bulgarian News Agency BTA reported that Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov officially inspected the progress of the accelerated construction of the Vertical Corridor, a strategic energy initiative with international participation. The inspection took place in the village of Mikrevo in Strumyani Municipality (southwestern Bulgaria).

Bulgaria Pledges to Remain a Reliable Gas Transit Partner