According to the statement, Minister Szijjártó debated in Brussels with other EU Member State representatives long into the night over the eighth set of sanctions against Russia.
“After weeks of tough negotiations in Brussels, we fought hard so that Hungary would be exempt from any measures that would harm the Hungarian people or endanger the security of Hungary’s energy supply,”
– stated the Foreign Minister in his post.
He highlighted that,
We managed to get an exemption from the oil price cap mechanism for the pipeline transport mode and in the event of an emergency, if this is not possible, for transport via the sea as well. This means that the security of Hungary’s oil supply is not endangered by the measures adopted in Brussels,
– he emphasized. Péter Szijjártó said that they successfully fought to get an exemption for nuclear energy as well. Thus, not only the services and products necessary for the operation of existing nuclear plants were exempt but also anything for the construction of new reactors.
This was important because one of the most important cornerstones and safeguards of Hungarian energy supply security is the construction of the two new blocks of the Paks nuclear power plant; the nuclear power plant currently in operation is responsible for 50 percent of Hungarian electricity production and 34 percent of Hungarian electricity consumption,
he pointed out.
He said it was important that not a single institution involved in nuclear energy-related R & D was added to the sanctions either.
The Foreign Minister reaffirmed that the sanction measures imposed thus far have caused more damage to Europe than to Russia; therefore, the government continues to refuse to adopt any sanctions that will harm the Hungarian people.
Thanks to this he said that it was possible to achieve exemptions for Hungary from all measures that would have harmed our interests, threatening the Hungarian people or the security of our country’s energy supply.
Photo: Péter Szijjártó (Photo CRedit: Facebook/Péter Király)
