Hungarian minister calls for further diversification of energy resources, transport routes
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Politically motivated energy sanctions are killing Europe’s competitiveness and have a serious impact on living standards as well, so it is necessary to involve new resources and transport routes as soon as possible, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Bucharest on Monday.
Speaking at the European Gas Conference, the minister said Europe was facing a major energy crisis today because the liberal mainstream was approaching issues of an exclusively physical nature from an ideological perspective.
He said it was important to involve new resources and create new transport routes, and spoke out against energy sanctions and restrictions, arguing that the discrimination of certain suppliers for political reasons had a serious impact on Europe’s competitiveness and standards of living.
Szijjártó then touched on criticisms regarding the purchase of Russian natural gas and argued that in such a strategic sector, it is only worth changing the procurement direction if there is a better – more affordable and more reliable – offer.
“That is why we will not give up on energy cooperation with Russia. And that is why we are protecting the TurkStream pipeline, which is currently the most important guarantee for the security of our supply, in every way,” he added.
I wonder if the Foreign Minister recognizes a difference between diversifying energy resources and diversifying delivery routes for a single supplier. While he blames political decisions that restrict purchases from an openly hostile single source supplier, he engages in politics as usual with the same. Sometimes “cheap” is too expensive. Frankly, the equation is easy to understand………Russian energy = Russian aggression.
This whole issue has been turned on its head for ideological reasons of the very same nature that Foreign Minister Szijjarto accuses the EU of adopting. The reason energy prices spiked so sharply a few years back is very simple; Russia invaded Ukraine and sent market prices skyrocketing. The blame for this lies solely at Russia’s door. Irrespective of the ensuing sanctions, there were severe fears as to the ability of existing pipeline infrastructure to withstand military attacks and remain serviceable which were capable alone of creating market tremors. Energy prices have since reverted to long term average levels now that the market is content there’s plenty of supply to go around, while Hungary benefits from the discounted price at which it can buy Russian energy. Such a discount wouldn’t exist if Russia wouldn’t experience its present difficulties selling its resources so really, Hungary is a net beneficiary of the situation. The fact that energy was so expensive for so long? It’s to do with the war and not sanctions. Sanctions serve to actually lower the cost of Russian energy for Hungarian buyers. If the rest of the EU was willing and able to buy Russian energy, the Russians would charge a higher price for a commodity they can easily sell elsewhere. Oil is transportable in tankers, but gas really needs to be piped to be viable, otherwise you need dedicated LNG tankers and regasifaction plants, hence Russia is dependent on nearby countries buying its supply. Piping gas from Russia to India is not really viable whereas oil can be shipped.