You can't heat homes with political statements

According to the minister, despite the criticism, the government's policy will continue to be determined by guaranteeing Hungary's security of supply.

"It is rather contradictory that the actors who criticize Hungary the most for its energy cooperation with Russia have done nothing to diversify the supply of the region," stated Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó at the Budapest LNG Summit conference on Monday.

Europe had the opportunity to prepare for the crisis situation

The head of the ministry warned: "Such an irresponsible attitude will have to pay the price one day, unfortunately mostly the consumers". He said while

Hungary pursues a responsible energy policy, and has constantly sounded the alarm that the security of the continent's supply is at risk.

Europe had every opportunity to prepare for a crisis situation and to prevent it, but instead of a dogmatic approach, it should have focused on professional decision-making, he said.

Nuclear energy production is discriminated against

Péter Szijjártó called European politics flawed on several points. First of all, he pointed out that although there have been certain advances, no major development has taken place in recent years that would have brought about a radical change in the situation of the most vulnerable region.

He also complained that political and ideological issues were too involved in energy decisions, emphasizing that "you can't heat homes with political statements". Also, he mentioned that

gas reservoirs on the continent, especially in its western half, were not sufficiently filled.

He called it a mistake that they forgot about the transition period in the energy transition, and that nuclear energy production is discriminated against.

Gazprom is an unavoidable player 

He added that everyone knew that Hungary's long-term gas purchase contract with Russia would expire this year, yet nothing happened on the part of the critics, there were no infrastructure developments, it was not possible to attract new funds, and no investment decisions were made. Therefore, a new agreement had to be concluded with Gazprom, which "regardless of whether we like it or not, is a decisive player in the region's energy supply."

"Those who criticize the country for this have not done anything to change the situation in the region, we have not received any help," he emphasized. He underlined: thanks to the new contract, the supply of Hungary can be ensured in a calculated and affordable way,

so you don't have to face the problems here that you do in other parts of the continent.

As he said, Gazprom has always reliably complied with the agreements so far.

Everything must be done to diversify energy sources

Péter Szijjártó believed that the only hope for diversification in the medium term is the gas sources in Azerbaijan. According to him, although the LNG terminal in Croatia is important on a historical scale, and

contributes to maintaining one of the lowest overhead costs in Europe in Hungary,

not large enough capacity. Everything must be done to diversify energy sources, but at the same time, despite the criticism, the government's policy will continue to be determined by guaranteeing Hungary's security of supply, he said.

MTI