Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó is back in Moscow: energy issues on the agenda

On October 15, 2023, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó visited Moscow to participate in the Russia Forum. In his statement, he emphasized the importance of energy supplies, stressing that energy issues should not be reduced to politics alone. Szijjártó noted that natural gas and oil are physically necessary for a productive life, as without them it is impossible to keep factories running and homes heated.

Source DW 

Szijjártó also stressed that Hungary risks negative consequences if it refuses Russian energy supplies, since, according to him, Russia has always fulfilled its contractual obligations. He expressed concern about Brussels' plans to reduce dependence on Russian resources, calling it “madness” from a security standpoint, as Hungary imports most of its oil from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline.

Further discussion of this issue will continue at the EU Energy Council meeting scheduled for October 20, where issues related to the REPowerEU plan, which aims to reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies, will be considered.