New oil pipeline to connect Serbia with Százhalombatta

Hungary and Serbia have successfully connected their economies in critical areas, making both countries more resilient in times of crisis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjártó said after a meeting with Serbian Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarovic in Budapest on Wednesday.

“We want to emerge as winners in the new global economic order, and the current Hungarian-Serbian strategic economic cooperation supports that endeavour,” Szijjártó said at a joint press conference. He added that both countries’ economic strategies were based on their own national interests. “We follow an economic policy based on common sense, not ideology,” he added.

He said the strategic interests of Hungary and Serbia were aligned. The countries’ strategic cooperation has made their energy security stronger than it could be separately, he added. He noted that over 20 million cubic metres of gas arrived in Hungary via Serbia every day, and over 5.2 billion cubic metres had been delivered so far this year. The TurkStream pipeline will play a bigger role for Hungary in future and Serbia’s part will be a strategic one in this regard, he added.

Hungary is “Serbia’s gas store”

Hungary is storing 90 million cubic metres of gas for Serbia, and the government is ready to increase that volume as the winter approaches, he said. Szijjártó said recent developments had underscored the importance of an earlier agreement to connect crude pipelines between Hungary and Serbia. He added that the feasibility study for the construction of the 310km pipeline from the Danube Refinery would be completed by year-end and construction work could start in 2025, allowing for the connector’s completion by the end of 2027. According to atv.hu, Szijjártó could not say anything about the price since the relevant studies will only be complete in December.

Szijjártó and Adrijana Mesarovic. Photo: FB/Szijjártó

He said preparations were also underway for the construction of interconnectors between the two countries’ electricity grids. Interconnector capacity will double by 2028, he added.

He welcomed the start of operation of a regional power exchange with Serbia and Slovenia in December, further bolstering security of supply in the region. Szijjártó said Hungary was committed to opening the third chapter of European Union accession negotiations with Serbia while it held the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. “We believe that the European Union needs the Western Balkan countries more than the Western Balkan countries need EU membership, and it’s time Brussels understood that, too,” he added.

Von der Leyen ‘part of EU enlargement hypocrisy’, says Szijjártó

Hungary’s foreign minister has slammed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for ditching Olivér Várhelyi as the commissioner for EU enlargement, saying her decision was part of “the hypocrisy of Brussels” regarding enlargement policy.

Western Balkan states have been waiting 14.5 years for EU membership, “which goes to show how the majority in the bloc is against enlargement,” Szijjártó told a joint press conference held with the Serbia’s economy minister in Budapest on Wednesday.

He insisted that EU officials’ public pro-enlargement statements were at odds with what they said behind closed doors.

Szijjártó also insisted that countries that were most advanced in the accession process wanted Varhelyi to stay on in his current role.

The minister said Hungary would do everything it could “to ensure that Western Balkan countries can join the European Union as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile, he said each member state had the right to appoint a commissioner and decide whom to nominate. “So I’ll start out from the assumption that the European Parliament’s fantastically committed democrats won’t deny this sovereign right…” he said.

Read also:

• Hungarian foreign minister meets with Rosatom CEO, IAEA DG
• Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil is problematic, according to analyst – Here’s why