Hungarian FM wants to preserve stable and fair cooperation with Russia
Hungary has a vested interest in preserving a stable, predictable and fair cooperation with Russia in certain areas, the foreign minister said on Thursday.
The ministry cited Péter Szijjártó as saying after a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Skopje that the government rejected all forms of pressure aimed to force Hungary to stop all cooperation with Russia.
“We pursue foreign policy on the basis of national interests and will not accept any pressurising from the outside, therefore we will cooperate with Russia in securing Hungary’s energy supply in the upcoming period just like before,” he added.
He welcomed the progress of the expansion project at the Paks nuclear power station, saying that the construction of 2.7 kms of a slurry wall had been completed at record speed, making it possible to continue with ground works.
“It remains a realistic goal to hold the so-called first concrete pouring ceremony next year and the new blocks … could be connected to the system in the early 2030s,” he added.
He said Lavrov had assured him that Russia and Russian companies would fulfill their contractual obligations and supply natural gas and crude oil according to schedule.
“As a result, Hungary’s natural gas supplies will remain to be guaranteed, despite Bulgarians imposing extra tax on natural gas delivered to Hungary, Serbia and North Macedonia via Bulgaria,” he said.
The minister also said that he had told his Russian counterpart that Hungary would continue to support peace in Ukraine.
“It is important to us that arms should not be fired in our region but peace talks should be started … in every international organisation Hungary stands up for keeping the channels of communication open, and for ceasefire and the start of peace talks as soon as possible,” he said.
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That attitude may create peace in the world.
Let us recap: the Paks expansion is the biggest single investment in Hungarian history. Our Politicians claim it will make us less dependent on Russia. However, do consider that Russia will finance the plant with a €10bn loan. This loan will be need to be repaid by Hungarian consumers through their electricity bills in due time.
https://www.thefinancialtrends.com/2023/07/11/russia-allocates-financing-for-hungarys-paks-2-nuclear-plant-construction/
Then consider the Finns;
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-group-ditches-russian-built-nuclear-plant-plan-2022-05-02/
Finns have also completely closed borders with Russia as Russia started to use migration as a hybrid weapon against Finland. Border officials and FSB tried to use a migration flow through Russia into Finland. Interviewed immigrants said they paid money to the officials working for Russian government who organized their 1000s of kilometer transport to Russian border stations. There the migrants were forced to buy bicycles and ride their bikes a few kilometer from Russian border station to Finnish border station to seek asylum.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67555626.amp
Hungary is lucky to not have border with Russia and Hungarians are lucky that Ukraine is bravely keeping Russians out of becoming Hungarian neighbour. Energy dependence to Russia does not sound good at all. Long term plans to get large amounts of energy elsewhere should be in place and implemented.
Finns could buy all needed cheap energy from Russia and ignore the facts that the money would finance war in Ukraine. But they wont, they cant. Conscience does not allow it. Hungarian politicians have no problem ignoring this fact and are happy to not even consider any other energy options.
By the way, if anyone is in any doubt regarding the position of Mr. Putin’s Russia:
https://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/1918477/
Mr. Lavrov’s speech in full – thought I would read. As you will note, there are more than a few points being parroted by our Politicians,..
Hungarian government’s only duty is to the Hungarian people, if Paks II will guarantee required energy, it must be built. Finland can if it wishes look drill for oil/gas in the ocean surrounding the country. Hungary does not have other choices.