Hungarian foreign minister: Trinidad and Tobago key player in EUโs LNG supply ๐
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Central and South America will play an increasingly important role in the European Unionโs energy supply, with Trinidad and Tobago being a key player, Foreign Minister Pรฉter Szijjรกrtรณ said in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
The foundations of the LNG partnership are in place, and its implementation will coincide with Hungaryโs presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year, Szijjรกrtรณ said, according to a ministry statement.
The minister highlighted the significance of his visit to the Caribbean island country, noting it was the first by a Hungarian foreign minister.
Trinidad and Tobagoโs gas reserves are estimated at 300 billion cubic metres, he said, also noting its annual LNG capacities of 20 billion cubic metres.
The island country exported 10 billion cubic metres of LNG last year, with more than 4 billion cubic metres being sold to Europe, Szijjรกrtรณ said. Also, Trinidad and Tobago reached an agreement with Venezuela on joint extraction and exports, he said.
Illegal migration in Trinidad and Tobago
Szijjรกrtรณ, who on Wednesday is scheduled to meet Trinidad and Tobagoโs foreign, sports and energy ministers, noted the EUโs Global Gateway scheme which supports, among other things, development projects needed to import LNG from the region.
โAnd this year, a decision was reached on making the operations of the energy and petrochemical industries here more eco-friendly than ever before,โ the minister said.
Meanwhile, Szijjรกrtรณ noted that Trinidad and Tobagoโs geographical location makes it a destination for illegal migrants, and that border protection and the assessment of asylum applications were a strict process.
โWe agree that the issue of migration raises serious security concerns, which is why combatting illegal migration is not just a Hungarian or European, but also an important global process,โ Szijjรกrtรณ said.
As regards bilateral relations, the minister said bilateral trade turnover had grown 5.5-fold since 2010, and was up 30 percent so far this year.
Szijjรกrtรณ has talks with Indonesian counterpart ๐
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has phoned Pรฉter Szijjรกrtรณ, Hungaryโs minister of foreign affairs and trade, Szijjarto said on Facebook on Wednesday, adding that the talks focused on the security crisis in the Middle East. The two ministers agreed that the international community must concentrate efforts to prevent an escalation in the Middle Eastern region, Szijjรกrtรณ said.
Should the situation in the Middle East become uncontrollable, together with โan increasingly warlike mood in Europeโ it could easily lead to a global security crisis that they โwouldnโt want to imagineโ, he said.
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