Peter Szijjarto Makes Major Announcement on Energy Security

In order to preserve the achievements of utility cost reductions, Hungary will build a new crude oil pipeline with Serbia, which could be operational as early as 2027, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday in Budapest.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: MTI/Lajos Soos)

Following talks with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Dedovic, he emphasized that Brussels is repeatedly making decisions that severely undermine Europe's energy security.

"They want us to stop using Russian crude oil and natural gas, and to shut down transport routes. We can see the result in Europe: people now have to pay several times more for energy compared to other parts of the world," he said.

We Hungarians have so far been able to preserve the achievements of our utility cost reduction scheme, but Brussels now wants us to give up Russian oil and gas, which would cause Hungarian families' utility costs to increase by two to four times.We will not allow this. Supply routes should not be closed, Europe should not be cut off from its sources, but rather new sources should be accessed and new pipelines built to ensure Europe's energy supply,

he continued.

Peter Szijjarto stressed that this would help bring down energy prices across Europe, which is why  Hungary, in cooperation with Serbia, is building a crude oil pipeline between the two countries with a transport capacity of up to five million tons per year.

In Hungary, this will require the construction of 180 kilometers of new pipeline, and if we make good progress, this new pipeline could be operational by 2027,

he said.

"Today, together with Serbia's energy minister and Russia's deputy energy minister, we discussed the prospects of the investment and the current state of preparations," he added.

We remain committed to protecting the results of the utility cost reduction scheme and shielding Hungarian families from price increases driven by Brussels. This requires opening up new energy sources and building new pipelines. Brussels wants to cut off sources and shut down pipelines, which would lead to rising prices. We will not allow this. We are building pipelines, opening up new sources, and with that, maintaining the lowest utility costs in Europe for the Hungarian people,

the minister concluded.

Cover photo: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: MTI/Lajos Soos)