FM Szijjarto: Have you tried carrying gas in a backback?! + video

At the Karpacz Economic Forum, Hungary's minister of foreign affairs and trade rejected accusations of Hungary being friendly towards Russia.

To rebut the statement that no strategic success has been reached, Peter Szijjarto pointed out five areas where the Visegrad Four have made substantial progress in recent years:

1. joint protection of Slovakia's airspace
2. joint protection of Hungary's southern border to fight migration
3. cooperation during the pandemic
4. keeping enlargement on the EU's agenda, which would not be possible without V4 support
5. role of nuclear energy.

 

Hungary is not pro-Russia

As for the accusations that the Hungarian government is friendly towards Russia, he emphasized that the representatives of the participating countries do not need to be lectured on what Soviet oppression means, because they have all fought for their freedom. He called it the biggest fake news in history when in 1956 Radio Free Europe announced that the Americans would help.

The minister of foreign affairs and trade tried to clarify why Hungary cannot stop sourcing energy carriers from Russia within a short time. 

Have you tried carrying gas in a backback? Because until we can do that, we'll have to rely on Russian gas,

he told the participants. He also pointed out that when Hungary asked for help to reduce its dependency on Russia, the country received no assistance. Moreover, the European Union declined responsibility and refused to invest in capacity expansion. "And then what happens tomorrow?" FM Szijjarto asked, noting that Hungary’s government is working to diversify its natural gas resources, but the capacity of the energy infrastructure in southeast Europe is very limited and the EU does not want to finance its development. "Similarly, 85 percent of Hungary’s oil consumption is covered from Russian sources, but the Croatian authorities have increased the transit fee five-fold via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the only alternative route, and no one in Europe is protesting this," he added

"Who will explain to the Hungarians that there is no heating?"- he asked the audience.

How much uranium did the US buy from the Russia? Twice as much in the first half of this year as in the whole of last year!

he said, drawing another parallel for those who accuse Hungary of being pro-Russia.

 

Hungarians shed their blood

The minister also reminded the audience that he alone represents a nation whose members shed their blood in the war. Nevertheless, he understands and respects that others hold different views on this issue, he pointed out.  He also noted that less is said about the fact that Hungary has taken in more than a million refugees from Ukraine and that thousands of Ukrainian children are attending schools and kindergartens in Hungary.

Did the message get through, and was the Hungarian position better understood? This was not quite clear in the panel discussion. Maciej Szymanowski, director of the Wacław Felczak Institute for Polish-Hungarian Cooperation, said that the good thing about the V4 is that the countries don't want to lecture each other.

The biggest difference of opinion between the Poles and Hungarians comes from the Poles being  more optimistic, even if they don't necessarily have a reason to be. That the West will behave differently this time and Russia will lose the war,

he opined.

Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto addressing a panel discussion at the 32nd Karpacz Economic Forum (Photo: David Laszlo)