Hungarian FM: Govt requests official proposal on EU plans to reduce gas consumption

The Hungarian government awaits the European Commission’s official proposal on its plans to reduce gas consumption in the community, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in an interview to US television channel Fox News broadcast on Thursday morning.

Concerning a planned reduction of 15 percent, Szijjártó said the matter was too serious to comment on and form a position before seeing the written proposal.

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On the subject of the Ukraine war the minister said every minute constituted a security risk for Hungary physically, economically, and also in terms of energy supplies. Hungary, therefore, is interested in an early peace agreement, he said, and urged the international community to help facilitate an immediate ceasefire and start peace talks as soon as possible. Peace is the only solution to Europe’s very severe challenges such as high inflation, soaring energy and raw material prices and a possible, further wave of illegal migration resulting from a food crisis, he added. “These are all tragic consequences of the war,” he said.