Ukraine must comply with the Association Agreement with the European Union, which provides for the preservation of Russian gas supply routes to Europe. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Péter Szijjártó, commenting on Ukraine's decision to suspend gas transit from the Russian Federation to EU countries from January 1.
The head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry discussed the current situation by phone with the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Juraj Blanár. "We agreed that the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement must be respected by both sides and that this agreement also provides for the preservation of energy transport routes," Szijjártó wrote on Facebook.
The minister noted that Ukraine is considered a candidate for accession to the EU and is striving for membership in the community, but at the same time "once again put the European economy in a difficult situation" by stopping the transit of Russian gas through its territory. "This is especially important for Central Europe," Szijjártó emphasized.
According to reports from Bratislava, the Slovak government has proposed convening a meeting in Brussels on January 7 with the participation of the EU leadership and representatives of Ukraine to discuss the situation with gas supplies to Central Europe. However, the meeting did not take place due to the refusal of the Ukrainian side to come to the Belgian capital.
Szijjártó explained that the continued rise in gas prices in Europe “is mainly due to measures that artificially reduce the amount of natural gas“, including sanctions, the elimination of energy sources for political reasons, as well as “blocking certain transport routes.”
“The latest event that led to the price increase was Ukraine's termination of the transit of Russian gas through its territory to Central Europe. Since it became finally clear in mid-December that Ukraine would block the transit route, natural gas prices on the European market have increased by 20%“, the foreign minister said. According to him, “it is absolutely clear that the people of Europe will have to pay for these decisions“.
Szijjártó noted that “even the most fanatical inhabitants of Brussels“ cannot argue with this. “The competitiveness of the European Union has deteriorated sharply recently, and one of the main reasons for this is that gas prices in Europe have become much higher than those of our competitors“, the minister explained.
At the same time, Szijjártó confirmed that Hungary would suffer less from the suspension of Russian gas transit from Ukraine than other Central European countries, including Austria and Slovakia. “Since we have made great efforts in recent years to secure gas supplies via as many routes as possible, Hungary is securely supplied with energy resources, although it is also affected by rising prices on the European gas market“, the minister explained.
Hungary still receives the majority of its gas in accordance with long-term contracts with Gazprom via the "Turkish Stream" pipeline and its branches through Bulgaria and Serbia.
The northern supply route through Ukraine has been almost unused recently, although the Hungarian government and MVM CEEnergy, which concluded contracts with Gazprom Export, noted that in the interests of energy security they would like to keep it as an archive. In total, Hungary imports about 9 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Szijjártó noted that he “remembers well the debate that took place many years ago about whether it was worth building the “Turkish Stream“ gas pipeline along the route Russia – Turkey – Bulgaria – Serbia – Hungary, bypassing Ukraine“. “And I remember well the threats from our allies who tried to “be “friendly” dissuade us from investing in this project“, the foreign minister added.
“If we could not resist the “friendly” pressure, now we would find ourselves in a very difficult situation as a landlocked country. "At present, Hungary's energy supplies are reliable, but Ukraine's decision to stop transit supplies will lead to further price increases and create new competitiveness problems for Central Europe and the European Union as a whole," the minister concluded.