Hungary will not be affected by the likely halt of the natural gas transit through Ukraine thanks to a timely and courageous decision made jointly with Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey to build the Turkish Stream, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in response to a journalist's question during a press conference following the meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian Joint Economic Committee.
And those who were involved in the preparation, and who were there when we started the construction, know exactly what threats we faced from our allies. They can remember how our allies tried to talk us out of it: some more kindly, some more threateningly,
he recalled. "If we hadn't been brave enough, we would be in huge trouble today. If we had not built the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, today it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to guarantee the security of Hungary's natural gas supply," he added.
Hungary's natural gas supply is now mainly secured through this pipeline, and this year alone more than 5.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been delivered via this route, he pointed out.
As a result, we are unconcerned, we are not affected by what deal the Russians and Ukrainians reach or fail to reach in terms of gas transit (...) However, this is a problem for some countries in Central Europe. In recent years, Hungary has made huge investments in gas transport infrastructure, and of course we can help whoever we can,
he said. Regarding Ukraine's NATO membership, Peter Szijjarto warned that today the country's admission would trigger the outbreak of a third world war because of the article on collective defense. "I think that anyone who thinks this issue over with common sense will not want to bring about this risk. So Hungary's position is clear: Ukraine's accession to NATO is not possible," he underlined.
I may disillusion the idealists. The fact is that when the foreign ministers of NATO member states talk behind closed doors or in private, the vast majority of NATO foreign ministers agree with this position,
he pointed out. "I find it extremely dishonest how a significant number of NATO countries behave towards the Ukrainians. They do not tell them honestly what they think about this issue and what their position is," he added.
He compared this to the enlargement of the European Union, saying that there are those who hold out the prospect for Serbia to join, while in a smaller circle, they will explain why this is not possible.
I find this practice very much unfair,
he remarked.
Addressing other issues, the minister commented on the EU's punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, noting that only ten member states voted in favor, five against and twelve abstained. "If anyone concludes from this that the vast majority is in favor of the proposal, they either think that the whole European community is stupid, or give a rather dismal opinion of European democracy, or want to completely destroy European competitiveness," he said.
Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Source: Facebook/Peter Szijjarto)
