The Dutch authorities have returned the export license of the company responsible for a significant part of the maintenance and repair works of the gas pipeline connecting Russia with Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Wednesday.

According to the ministry's statement, the head of the ministry reported before the government meeting that the withdrawal of the export license of the company registered in the Netherlands did not pose an immediate threat, but the situation would not be reassuring in the long term, so the developments are good news. He said that he had discussed the matter several times with the Dutch Minister of Energy, who informed him on Tuesday that the competent bodies had granted the license to the company, a fact that was also confirmed by Russia's Gazprom.

"The operation of the Turkish Stream is once again fully predictable and safe, even in the long term," he concluded, adding that it is now the only east-west pipeline that operates without interruption.

Péter Szijjártó touched on the new proposal of the European Commission published the day before regarding the alleviation of the energy supply crisis. He called this "inappropriate and even dangerous", stating that this would only reduce the amount of natural gas arriving on the continent even further, since if accepted, Russia would stop the supply.

"According to a simple economic principle, if we increase the quantity of a given product in a market, its price will decrease, but if we decrease the quantity of the product, the price will increase. Therefore, the amount of natural gas on the European market should be increased. It would be necessary for more natural gas to arrive in Europe from as many sources as possible, via as many routes as possible," he added. He warned: the proposal of the Brussels board would cause exactly the opposite of what they want.

Finally, the minister announced that Hungary's gas supply continues unimpeded and complete on the southern transport route. Thanks to this, the capacity of the Hungarian gas reservoirs is already at 50 percent of the annual consumption, i.e. the country has enough reserves for half a year , which is outstanding compared to the European Union average of 27 percent, he stated.

Source: MTI

(Cover photo: MTI/Zoltán Máthé)