Russia

Hungary’s energy supply secure thanks to Russia

Russian oil transit MOL

Hungary’s energy supply continues to be secure as Russia is still delivering crude oil to Hungary in line with its contractual obligations, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Monday.

He said in a post on social media that Europe, including Hungary, still confronted key energy security challenges since imports remained the continent’s main sources of energy, and he referred to “worrying reports” about attacks on energy infrastructure in the war-torn neighbourhood.

Szijjártó said that he had talked by phone with Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister for energy affairs, who underscored Russia’s commitment to delivering crude to Hungary, “so the country’s energy supply remains secure”.

Applying for Russian visa in Hungary easier from today

Kremlin Moscow Russia

As we reported, on Tuesday morning, the US restricted the visa waiver for Hungarian passport holders, citing security risks. Just a bit later on the same day, the Russians announced that Hungarians can now apply for electronic visas to Russia.

As of Tuesday, the United States has significantly restricted visa-free travel from Hungary due to security concerns over Hungarian passports issued between 2011 and 2020. On the same day, the Russians have taken the opposite step: they are making it easier for Hungarians to obtain visas to Russia.

The electronic visa is available to citizens of 55 countries, including Hungary, for a fee of just USD 52. The electronic entry visa entitles the holder to a one-off stay of 16 days. It can be applied for on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website or via a mobile phone application, MTI reports.

They say that to apply for an e-visa, foreign nationals need a valid passport, health insurance and passport photo, but not an invitation, hotel reservation or other document proving the purpose of the trip. The application must be submitted no later than four days before the planned date of entry into Russia and the visa is valid for 60 days after issuance.

Hungarian minister urgently called his Russian counterpart and calmed down

Szijjártó urgently phoned his Russian counterpart

All conditions are in place for uninterrupted oil and natural gas flows to Hungary, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after phone talks with Alexander Novak, Russia’s deputy prime minister in charge of energy matters, on Thursday, adding that Hungary could be relaxed about its preparations for the winter.

Europe has been facing a serious energy crisis for the past year and a half, with the sanctions on Russia having driven up prices and having shut down the regular supply routes, Szijjártó said in a post on Facebook. Hungary’s energy supply, however, has remained stable “because we have always viewed energy security as a real physical matter”, he added.

Szijjártó said he and Novak had discussed the situation of energy deliveries and concluded that all conditions were in place for the continued uninterrupted supply of crude and natural gas to Hungary.

“Alexander Novak assured me that the Russian suppliers were committed to honouring the previously concluded long-term supply agreements,” the minister said. Meanwhile, he welcomed that Azerbaijan’s SOCAR has begun delivering the first 50 million cubic metres of natural gas to Hungary.

Russian government official: Orbán wants Ukraine’s Transcarpathia, parts of Romania, Croatia

Viktor Orbán

According to Mihail Gazin, a Russian economist, PM Viktor Orbán would like to expand the territory of Hungary. Among others, he would like to acquire Ukraine’s Transcarpathia, Transylvania, which is more than a third of Romania’s territory, and a slice of Croatia.

Hungary and its “territorial claims”

Gazin is a Russian analyst, publicist and economist. Before, he was an official of the Russian presidential administration, index.hu wrote. Gazin said in the Cargrad show that, among others, Orbán aimed to expand the territory of Hungary.

He added that provided the war in Ukraine continues, Russia will conquer the country’s Eastern regions. And that is when Orbán will announce his territorial claims against Ukraine. Based on the Serbian Pravda, the territory Budapest would claim is Transcarpathia, which belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary for more than a millennium, until the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. Furthermore, Hungary wants to get Transylvania and a corridor to the sea via Croatia.

Gazin said Orbán was determined since he saw the West can no longer help Ukraine. Moreover, Kyiv has no internal resources to withstand the Russian forces. That is what PM Viktor Orbán talked about in his interview yesterday morning, saying the question was how long the EU can finance the war. The USA can finance Kyiv, but the EU cannot since Brussels need to ask for money from the member states to support Zelenskyy. Orbán suggested in the interview that Budapest would only modify the EU’s budget if they get euro billions of the RRF and development funds frozen by the European Commission due to rule-of-law concerns.

Former Russian president on the same track

That is not the first time a Russian politician or official suggested Hungary would have territorial claims against Ukraine. Last July, Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia, shared a map on his Telegram channel showing most of Ukraine’s territory divided between Poland, Hungary, Romania and Russia. You may read more about Medvedev’s crazy idea HERE. And why do we call that crazy? Here is one reason, but there are many more. Poland is one of the biggest supporters of Zelensky, and it would never accept a border with Russia.

But what about Transylvania (Romania) and Croatia? Both are NATO and EU members. Of course, they once belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, but the number of Hungarians in Croatia does not reach 10,000. Furthermore, Hungary is to create a seaport in Trieste, Italy. Read more about that project HERE.

Finally, PM Orbán and his governments never talked about territorial claims. Instead, Orbán went on an official visit to Bucharest last week, talking about a possible high-speed railway connection between the Romanian capital and Budapest. Read our article HERE.

Thus, Gazin’s suggestions lack any real base, but are perfect for the Kremlin’s propaganda purposes.

PM Orbán: Ukraine ran out of strength

PM Viktor Orbán Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine cannot be resolved on the battlefield, only through diplomacy and talks, and the first step would be an immediate ceasefire, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public radio on Friday.

Orbán said in the interview that Hungary must be persistent in urging peace. “If they throw us out the window, we must come back through the door, and if they push us out the door, we must come back through the window,” he added. He said the war was very costly and Ukraine had run out of money, and it was barely surviving. Its army was operational owing purely to western money, he added.

“There are two questions: one concerns a decision by the president of the United States on how long they will be spending billions here in eastern Europe, and the other is how long Europe can endure,” Orbán said. The EU can generate money if member states “throw their money into shared coffers”, he said. The question, however, remained: “how long can we last when the European economy is in trouble and the we cannot see any end to the war?”

“We have already given more than 70 billion euros, but we can’t see how this has been spent; the accounts have not been done,” Orbán said. In this situation, at the halfway point of the 7-year budget cycle, the European Commission is asking member states to contribute a total of 100 billion euros, he added.

War weighing on world economy

The war in Ukraine is weighing down the world economy, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public radio on Friday. Global economic trends are increasingly characterised by seclusion, isolation and “a kind of ghettoization,” he said in the interview, adding that instead connection, cooperation and division of labour would be better for production and economic growth.

Orban said Hungary had at last become competitive before the outbreak of the war which had since clouded the entire system of global economic ties and served as an excuse to sever relationships on which the well-being of tens of millions of countries and people depended. Here is the full interview:

Hungarian government wants Russians to participate on the Olympics

Putin Orbán Russian gas disgraceful role

The Olympics should be about sports and sportspeople, not politics, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister said on Tuesday during a visit to Fukuoka, Japan, adding that the losers of any Olympic boycott were sportspeople who trained hard throughout their lives and had nothing to do with political decisions.

“At a meeting with Ng Ser Miang, vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, we discussed the benefits of sports as a tool for peace and separating sports from geopolitics,” Szijjártó said on Facebook. He said that a fully inclusive Olympics may greatly advance the peaceful settlement of conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.

Szijjártó noted that the boycott of communist countries during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics had robbed more than 100 Hungarian sportspeople of a chance to prove themselves. “We Hungarians not only talk about sport’s power to create peace but also act on it, and it was in this vein that we offered an opportunity to the Ukrainian female handball national team to play a world championships qualifier and to the Belarusian football national team to play a European championships qualifier in Hungary,” he said. “And we continue to offer a venue for sports events that cannot be held in their original location because of the war.”

Here are some photos of their meeting:

Hungarian students collect 1 gold, 3 silver medals at chemistry olympiad

Hungarian students won one gold and three silver medals at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Zürich last week. At the competition organised for the 55th time between July 16 and 24, Márton Szabó, a student of the Péter András Secondary School in Szeghalom, central Hungary, won a gold medal, while Marcell Imre Papp and Dániel Nemeskéri of the Apáczai Secondary School in Budapest and Dániel Viczián of the Radnóti Secondary School in Szeged won silver. The event drew 348 students from 89 countries, organisers said.

German analysis: without Hungary’s help, Ukraine’s military would be paralyzed

Ukraine army cannot move without Hungarian help

Ukrainian armoured vehicles and tanks can only function and carry out attacks against the Russian invaders because they receive sufficient Hungarian and Turkish fuel. Interestingly, the raw material for the product comes from Russia and fuel is produced in Hungarian and Turkish refineries. Without that help, Ukraine’s army would not be able to move, a German analysis has stated recently.

According to index.hu, Ukraine’s military potential depends greatly on Hungarian fuel import. Based on an analysis of the German Handelsblatt, Ukraine only has one operating refinery in Kremencuk. However, that can only make 30 percent of the country’s fuel consumption. There are five more refineries in Ukraine, but none of them were operational even before the start of the Russian invasion. Furthermore, the Russian military hit the Kremencuk facility last April, so it often malfunctions.

Therefore, Ukrainians are in a challenging situation since they need import to move their tanks and armoured vehicles. Handelsblatt used the data of the Ukrainian customs agency. They said that Hungarian and Turkish diesel export guarantees the Ukrainian army’s undisturbed operation.

Meanwhile, both countries receive the raw material from Russia, so Ukrainians operate their army with Russian oil. One of the biggest helpers is Hungary’s MOL, which doubled its export to Ukraine in the last six months.

The German newspaper added that this is only possible because of MOL’s competitive advantage in Europe since they can acquire Russian crude oil despite the EU sanctions. The exemption was the success of the Hungarian government, and it will last at least until 2024. Meanwhile, countries not relied on Russian oil can provide less and less fuel products for Kyiv.

Handelsblatt highlighted that Hungary’s global position is crucial concerning fuel and crude oil. MOL can process Russian crude oil coming via pipelines, so their fuel is cheaper. The Russian Urals type is cheaper than the Western Brent type crude.

Michal Paszkowski, an analyst of the Polish Institute of Central Europe, told the German newspaper that the fuel arriving in Ukraine goes via Poland by railway. Furthermore, Hungary and Slovakia transmit it via pipelines and Romania by sea and railway. Index asked MOL how much fuel they export to Ukraine but has received no answer.

Keen to learn more about the war and Hungary? HERE is an article about the Hungarians fighters in the Ukrainian army. Meanwhile, in THIS article, you can read about a Hungarian teenager who was forcibly recruited as a soldier in Ukraine.

Kyrgyz foreign minister Jeenbek Kulubaev held talks in Hungary

kyrgiz

Hungary started building ties with central Asia before other players, and now enjoys a competitive advantage in a region with growing importance, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said after meeting his Kyrgyz counterpart, Jeenbek Kulubaev, in Budapest on Monday.

Péter Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Kulubaev that in the wake of the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russia, well-used transit routes and trade relationships had become “practically impossible”.

As a result, “physical trade routes and the supply routes of some resources moved to central Asia. Hungary, and observer in the Organisation of Turkic States, has a strategic advantage in the region … and has brought that advantage to fruition,” he said.

Hungarian-Kyrgyz trade volume jumped by a record 71 percent last year and 3.5-fold this year already, he said.

Earlier economic agreements brought excellent opportunities for Hungarian companies in the modernisation of Kyrgyzstan’s water management and irrigation system, and several projects in food processing, Szijjártó said. A Hungarian company will start a solar power plant investment project soon, he said, adding that joint steel production in Bishkek is so far worth 2.5 billion forints (EUR 6.6m), he added.

Cooperation in education is also gaining momentum, the two countries’ rectors’ conferences have recently met, and Hungary offers 200 grants per year to Kyrgyz students wishing to study here, he said.

Szijjártó also called for strengthening ties between the European Union and Central Asia. He called on the EU to finally ratify a strategic partnership agreement with Kyrgyzstan that was finalised in 2019.

On the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó said Kyrgyzstan and Hungary were both members of the “global pro-peace majority”. “Both countries have paid heavily for the war in Ukraine which they are in no way responsible for,” he said.

“We both think there is no solution to this war on the battlefield … and so we want a ceasefire as soon as possible, and want to play a role in keeping channels of communication open,” he said.

At the third meeting of the Hungarian-Kyrgyz strategic council, the two countries signed an agreement on environmental protection.

Responding to a question on Hungarians evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes where wildfires are raging, Szijjártó said that 80 Hungarians had been evacuated so far. The foreign ministry is in contact with 122 Hungarians on the island, he said, and called on them to register on the consulate’s website for assistance.

As we wrote this year, Kyrgyz President Japarov held talks with Hungarian President Novák, details HERE.

Minister acknowledged that Hungary might face oil supply crisis

Russian oil transit MOL

Csaba Lantos, Hungary’s minister responsible for energy affairs, talked about a possible supply crisis concerning oil at the summer university of Tusnádfürdő, Szeklerland, Transylvania, Central Romania.

Mr Lantos said Hungary’s electricity supply is secure due to the developments of the last 12-13 years, which is the time of the Orbán cabinet. He added that there are periods when solar panels can provide 100 percent of the supply in Hungary. Furthermore, there are hours when we are entirely carbon-free, mfor.hu wrote. Concerning gas supply, Hungary has bidirectional compressors and pipelines with all neighbouring countries but Austria. Moreover, consumption has fallen significantly since the pandemic, from 11.5 billion cubic metres to 9 billion.

The odd one out is oil. Hungary has only two incoming pipelines, and one of them comes from Ukraine. That operates despite the war, but the Russian-Ukrainian transit contract will expire next December, and nobody knows what the future holds in that respect.

He said they try to buy back Hungarian companies in the sector because that is the key to establishing energy security. Furthermore, concerning the Paks nuclear power plant extension project, he said they managed to modify the contract, and Brussels accepted that. Therefore, he hopes the building speed will accelerate.

We wrote HERE that crude oil was found on the outskirts of a Hungarian town near Budapest. In THIS article, you may read about the Hungarian government’s attitude towards Russian oil.

Minister: EU irresponsible to finance a frozen conflict in Ukraine

Gergely Gulyás US

The government will make good on its promise of bringing inflation down into the single digits by the end of the year; it could happen as early as October or November, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said at the 32nd “Tusványos” summer university course at Baile Tusnad (Tusnádfürdő), in central Romania, on Thursday.

Speaking about next year’s European Parliament elections, Gulyás said that, if not a miracle, a shift to the right can be expected, which “perhaps makes it possible to discuss reasonable proposals”. He said the majority of MEPs cannot forgive Hungarian voters for “failing to find what they consider to be the right answer” every four years and therefore try to take revenge on them. On the matter of the war, Gulyás called for peace negotiations as soon as possible, adding that he believed the outcome of the war was closely related to next year’s US presidential elections.

Gulyás said Ukraine, as a victim of aggression, clearly deserves solidarity and no European country disputes that Russia grossly violated international law. The question is, he said, how long EU member states will continue financing the war. He said it was irresponsible to finance a “frozen” conflict for years when no better result can be expected, and a ceasefire, which ends the killing, could be the only solution.

“It goes against the basic rules of common sense that there are countries that are members of the EU and are entitled to funds from the EU budget, and the European Commission, contrary to the Community law, does not provide these funds, and then calls on these member states to kindly agree to a unanimous decision so that a country that is not a member of the EU can also share in EU funds,” Gergely Gulyás said.

Fidesz politican: Future world order to be based on ‘international community’s approach to Russia’

Zsolt Németh Member of Parliament in Washington

The world order of the future will “chiefly be based on the international community’s approach to Russia,” Zsolt Németh, the head of Hungarian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said at the “Tusvanyos” Summer University in Baile Tusnad, Romania, on Wednesday.

Németh said the existing world order was based on the Charter of the United Nations adopted in 1945 whose fundamental legal principles include the equality of sovereign nations, the maintenance of international peace and security, the strengthening of prosperity and the guarantee of human rights, including minority rights. “But this structure is beginning to crack because Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is riding roughshod over the principles enshrined in the UN Charter,” he said. “If it punishes Russia, then there is no more UN, but if it doesn’t, then it goes against its own fundamental principle,” Németh insisted.

Hungary has “consistently condemned” Russia’s aggression and has recognised Ukraine’s right to defend itself, he said. In that spirit, Hungary provides help to Ukraine not through arms deliveries but by supplying fuel and with the training of military health professionals, he said. He added that the war could not be used as an excuse to discriminate against national minorities living in Ukraine. Ukraine should know that its path to the West leads through central Europe, he said.

Németh said Hungary needed to find a balance between political communication and its strategic goals, and hailed Hungary’s diplomatic success in influencing Brussels’s sanctions policy to limit the negative impact of the sanctions on the country. But when it came to the perception of Hungary, he said the country had backed ten sanctions packages, yet Brussels was giving the impression that it had vetoed all of them.

Meanwhile, Németh said the NATO policy agreed on at last week’s summit in Vilnius that Russia was a threat and that Ukraine’s accession to the alliance was conditional on the war ending was in line with Hungary’s position.

According to Szijjártó, the ‘global peace majority’ is not loud enough

szijjártó in new york

It is time to “turn up the volume” of the voices of the global pro-peace majority, and Hungary will continue to call for a diplomatic resolution of the war in Ukraine, “despite all the attacks and pressure”, the foreign minister said in New York on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó said that Monday’s meeting of the UN Security Council had made it clear that the international community was grouped around two opposing approaches to the issue.

Proponents of the war continue to make statements that risk an escalation, even as the “overwhelming majority of the world” want a swift end to the conflict, the ministry cited Szijjártó as saying.

“Nevertheless, representatives of the transatlantic world made speeches and statements yesterday that clearly signal that the war would carry on, and bring a clear risk of escalation,” Szijjártó said.

Therefore, the pro-peace camp’s voice should be made louder and “we should make it clear that the overwhelming majority of the world finally wants peace,” he said.

Szijjártó rejected the “accusations” of John Asselborn, his Luxembourg counterpart, who said Hungary wasn’t showing enough solidarity with Ukraine. “We Hungarians have accepted more than one million refugees form Ukraine,” he said, adding that Luxembourg was “probably” lagging behind that number.

He also said that Hungarians were dying “in growing numbers” in the war.

Commenting on the collapse of the agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through ports on its Russian-held Black Sea coast, Szijjártó said the agreement had been key to mitigating the conflict’s effects in “easily destabilising regions”.

Central Europe’s role in grain transits is expected to grow, and Hungary has completed serious infrastructural improvements in good time, he said.

Hungary is ready to allow grain transits to Africa and the Middle East to avoid a food crisis and the consequent new waves of migration from those regions. At the same time, it must be avoided that Ukrainian grain upends central European markets, “just because a neighbouring country doesn’t have to abide by EU regulations,” he said.

At the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Szijjártó said he would call on the meeting to “talk about peace now that war has dominated the discourse of international organisations for more than 500 days” since the war began.

“To achieve peace, we obviously need a ceasefire, negotiations and a peace agreement,” he said.

He welcomed all peace efforts and called on the UN to provide a platform for the discourse on peace, too.

Commenting on talks with company representatives, Szijjártó said US and German companies were “under a huge pressure, often amounting to blackmail”, to shun Hungary as an investment site. “The liberal US and German leadership do not agree with the direction the Hungarian people have set,” he said.

“It is clear to see, however, that German and US companies are not phased by that, and investments from those countries are growing constantly … I hope to conclude agreements on a few US investments in Hungary today,” he added.

Russians will launch a special flight to Hungary

Russians direct flight budapest

The new Russian flight taking off from an unknown airport will carry special passengers to Hungary. At least that is what a Hungarian government delegation may agree on with their Russian counterparts during their August official visit in Moscow. At least that is what the Ukrainian military intelligence leaked to Hungarian news outlets.

According to hvg.hu, the “cargo” of the flight will be 10-15 Transcarpathian soldiers of the Ukrainian army who are currently PoWs in Russia. The Russians may agree on their extradition with a Hungarian government delegation in early August. The negotiations are galvanised by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian military intelligence believes the handover of the Ukrainian PoWs will happen without the official knowledge and participation of the Ukrainian government.

Based on intelligence info, the Hungarian government delegation will arrive in Moscow between 8 and 11 August. And that is when they would like to reach agreement about the extradition of the PoWs. The Hungarians do not have an exact list of the prisoners, but they want the PoWs to be of a Hungarian ethnical background and speakers of the Hungarian language.

Not the first time that Ukrainian PoWs come to Hungary

That is not the first time Ukrainian (Hungarian) PoWs arrive in Hungary with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first transport came on 8 June, but nobody shared the exact number of the people. Deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén talked about eleven Ukrainian citizens. Later, five of them returned to Ukraine, the others remained in Hungary. Hvg.hu sent questions in the current PoW issue to Mr Semjén, but he did not reply before the article was published.

Zsolt Semjén said then that authorities released the eleven Transcarpathian PoWs Russia handed over on Friday. Kyiv was outraged, they summoned the Hungarian ambassador and wanted an explanation why they were not informed about Moscow’s PoW transfer. HERE we wrote about the details.

Forint among the most beloved currencies in Russia

forint historic lows

That is what a Hungarian tourist paying an early-summer business visit to Russia told Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid. They said Hungarians swarm Putin’s country despite the sanctions imposed on travel and other aspects introduced by the European Union.

One of the travellers told Blikk that it is not easy to get to Russia but not impossible either. Russians accept dollars and euros, and even forints because there are a lot of Hungarian tourists visiting the Eastern European country currently at war with Hungary’s eastern neighbour, Ukraine.

Despite there being no direct flights between Russia and Hungary, you can easily land in Saint Petersburgh or Moscow from a Turkish or Middle Eastern country’s airport. Of course, you must obtain a passport, visa and a negative PCR test done in the previous 48 hours.

Péter came home from a three-week-long journey in Russia. That is not his real name, and he did not want Blikk to write his occupation either. He said a Hungarian travel agency did the paperwork for the visa. He travelled by plane to Helsinki and took a bus to Saint Petersburg. Afterwards, he travelled to Moscow by train. Border guards are friendly, provided everything is OK with the papers, they do their job.

The EU-Russia border sees Russian and EU licence plates either, and Russians receive EU tourists warmly. When you enter Russia, you get a “migration card”, which you must keep in your pocket during your entire stay. Apart from that, you are free to do whatever you want.

There are a lot of Hungarians in Russia for business and travel reasons. Tourism is at a peak in Russia, locals accept euros and dollars, but they are happy to get forints, even happier than getting dollars for some reason. Provided your debit or credit card does not work, Russian banks give you tourist cards immediately. Péter said he spent four nights in a business room of a 4-stars Moscow hotel and spend less than EUR 310.

The Hungarian Ministry for Foreign Affairs did not answer Blikk’s questions concerning the number of Hungarian tourists in Russia. Before, they advised Hungarians to travel to Russia only if it were inevitable. In that case, they asked them to register for consular protection.

Construction of Paks nuclear power plant enters new phase

Paks Nuclear Plant Hungary

Work on the diaphragm wall for the expansion of Hungary’s nuclear power plant in Paks is under way, with groundwork under the sixth block set to begin in August, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.

The finalisation of the necessary permits for the full groundwork is on schedule, Szijjártó said after talks with Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in Budapest.

Energy cooperation between Hungary and Russia is a guarantee of Hungary’s energy security, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Murashko.

“And this is not an ideological or political matter, but a purely physical one,” he added.

“The new nuclear plant in Paks is the long-term guarantee for the security of Hungary’s energy supply, therefore Hungary will never support any sanctions on the nuclear industry,” Szijjártó said.

He welcomed that a recent approval from the European Union has opened the door to speeding up the Paks project. This has allowed construction to begin on the diaphragm wall, while groundwork for block six is set to get under way next month, he added.

Also, the ground consolidation plans are currently being finalised, he said, adding that the finalisation of the permits and plans for the full groundwork was on schedule.

Szijjártó said the Russian government was set to approve the modifications to the project’s financing contract in the coming days, which was set to be followed by the signing of the modified construction contract.

He added that Hungary will consider “any foreign legal or political manoeuvre” aimed at slowing down or blocking the project “an attack on our sovereignty”.

In response to a question, Szijjártó said that since the construction works were under way, Hungary should not abandon its target of completing the plant’s upgrade by 2030-2031.

“So I myself remain committed to putting the new blocks online by 2030-31,” Szijjártó said.

“And this is something I tell Rosatom’s executives at every single meeting, who so far have not objected to it.”

In a statement, Rosatom said on Wednesday that the diaphragm construction was part of the implementation phase which started on July 3. The works are proceeding in line with the permits of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, it said. As included in the permits, the new blocks will meet all Hungarian and European safety standards, Rosatom added. The guaranteed lifespan of the two new blocks will be 60 years, it said.

Hungary continues cooperation with Russia in unsanctioned sectors

murashko szijjártó

Hungary will continue cooperation with Russia in the areas not falling under European Union sanctions, as that is in the national interest, especially in energy security, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in Budapest on Wednesday.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of an environmental and health ministers’ conference organised in cooperation with the World Health Organisation, which offered a good opportunity to review cooperation between the two countries, Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Murashko.

Russia remains a reliable partner in the delivery of fossil fuels, without which “it would be physically impossible” to fulfil demand in Hungary, he said.

Under a long-term contract between the two countries, Russia has delivered 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year. “It is partially thanks to those deliveries that Hungary already has 42 percent of its annual consumption in reserves, compared with 23 percent in the EU on average,” he said.

Crude deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline are also uninterrupted, and have reached 2.2 billion cubic meters, he said.

“I would like to state loud and clear that Hungary has a vested interest in maintaining its decades-long energy cooperation with Russia,” he said.

At the same time, Hungary is looking to diversify its resources, he added.

The government also continues to support companies operating in Russia outside of the sectors hit by EU sanctions, “as do our Western competitors,” he said. Those sectors include banking, pharmaceuticals and health care, agriculture, the food industry and construction, he said.

The ministers discussed cooperation in oncology, Szijjártó said.

He also thanked Russia for “ensuring the safety of one million Hungarian lives” through Sputnik vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic.

Responding to questions, Szijjártó said the government’s stance on the war in Ukraine had always been clear. “We condemn the war in no uncertain terms … and think that it is in the interest of all those involved to put a swift end to it,” he said.

“At the same time, we also think that an agreement ensuring a lasting peace is only possible if we keep the channels of communication open,” he said.

Regarding Ukraine’s law on public education, Szijjártó said local authorities there “have been curbing the rights of ethnic minorities since 2015, and Hungary’s government will continue to keep the matter on the agenda until the original state of affairs is restored”.

“We don’t care how our actions are judged elsewhere in the world. We do not care if they like it in Russia, the US or Brussels … because this is about the Hungarians living in Transcarpathia,” he said, referring to a region in south-western Ukraine with a sizeable ethnic Hungarian population.

Hungary will continue to block further EU financing of Ukraine weapon deliveries until Kyiv strikes Hungarian bank OTP from its list of the financers of the war, he added.

Ukrainian MP: How much money does it cost to buy a Hungarian PM?

PM Orbán and Putin Russian gas

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a divisive interview to German newspaper Bild on Russian President Vladimir Putin, NATO and Russia. Several politicians reacted to the Hungarian Prime Minister’s statements.

Viktor Orbán’s divisive interview

As we reported, the Hungarian Prime Minister gave an exclusive interview to the German newspaper Bild. In the interview, Viktor Orbán said that Putin is not a war criminal, that Ukraine cannot win the war, and also spoke about NATO’s strength.

At one point in the interview, Orbán states that Ukraine is no longer a sovereign country because it is dependent on Western money.

Reactions to the Hungarian Prime Minister

There were heated responses to Viktor Orbán’s interview. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s centre-right liberal European Solidarity MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on Twitter about Putin.

“Putin is not a war criminal, Orbán said. Orbán, please tell me, how much does it cost to buy a Hungarian prime minister?” the Ukrainian MP wrote.

German Green MEP Daniel Freund responded even more succinctly: “what a bizarre interview with Viktor Orbán!”

The Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko has already reacted at greater length, index.hu reports. Gerashchenko responded to the parts concerning Ukrainian sovereignty and Putin. “I wonder who or rather what inspired Mr Orbán to draw such conclusions? Perhaps the record gas discounts that Russia is now offering its allies?” wrote Gerashchenko, who also posted a picture of Orbán and Putin grinning at each other.

The Hungarian opposition also reacted

Not only foreign politicians, but also Momentum, a member of the Hungarian opposition, reacted to Orbán’s statements. The party writes that “we find it unacceptable that Orbán denies Ukraine’s independence, which is recognised by the UN, as well as Putin’s guilt at the International Criminal Court”.

PM Orbán: Putin is not a war criminal

Putin Orbán Russian gas disgraceful role

Hungary’s leader, PM Orbán, gave an exclusive interview to the German Bild tabloid. Among other matters, he shared his opinion about the Russian–Ukrainian conflict. He also talked about Putin’s health.

PM Orbán was interviewed by the Ukrainian journalist of Bild, Paul Ronzheimer. Index reported that the Hungarian leader made his standpoint very clear this time. He thinks that Ukraine has no chance of winning the war. Giving arms to the country would only escalate the conflict instead of solving it. PM Orbán also gave his opinion on Putin’s power and whether he will stay in charge or not.

Wagner Group rebellion

According to Orbán, the Wagner Group rebellion was not a significant event. His opinion is based on the reports from the Hungarian intelligence. He thinks that the Hungarian intelligence is “more reliable than anything else”. Viktor Orbán does not think that the events weakened the Russian leader. Surely, the rebellion itself, that something like this can happen, could be viewed as a sign of weakness. But the fact that Putin was able to settle the conflict in less than 24 hours shows the real strength of the leader. The rebellion is over, the war continues. According to him, this event had no real potential of bringing peace. However, the most important thing is truce, and eventually, peace. He also said:

“Putin is the leader of Russia. If someone thinks that he could fail or can be removed, then that person does not understand the Russians nor the Russian power structure.”

The power of Russia

PM Orbán thinks that Putin is a strong leader, thus he will remain the President of Russia in 2024. Despite what people say, Russia’s power structure is still very stable. He said:

“Russia works differently from us. Its structures are very stable. They are based on the military, the secret service, the police, so it is a different kind of country than us, a military-oriented country. It is not like Germany or Hungary […]. So if we want to understand how it works according to our logic, we will be wrong.”

Friendship with Russia?

The interviewer asked Orbán why he is taking the side of Russians and becomes a friend of Putin if he was against the Soviets in 1989. PM Orbán said that this is not the case. He is fighting for his own nation, for Hungary. The Hungarian leader does not care about Putin, nor Russia. He only cares about what is best for Hungary, and obviously, the conflict is bad for Hungarians.

Putin is not a war criminal

The Hungarian leader also told Bild that the last time he spoke with Putin was weeks before the invasion. The interviewer asked Orbán if Putin would be captured in Hungary if he came to visit. PM Orbán thinks that this is very hypothetical because the Russian leader is not planning on doing so. He has also said that he does not consider Putin a war criminal. He elaborated on his opinion:

“Because we are at war. You can talk about war crimes after the war. If we want a ceasefire and negotiations, we must convince the parties of the conflict to sit down and negotiate.”

Ukraine will not win

The Hungarian leader thinks that it is impossible for Ukraine to win this war. Ukraine will run out of soldiers faster than Russia, and this is what matters at the end. Orbán says that peace is the most important thing. If the war goes on, the Ukrainians will lose a lot of money and many will die. He also added that Ukraine could no longer be considered a sovereign nation. He said:

“What matters most is what the US wants to do, because Ukraine is no longer a sovereign country, with no money or weapons of their own, and they can only go on fighting because we in the West support them, which means that if the Americans so decide that they want peace, there will be peace.”

Ukrainians had the right to decide whether to be involved in war

He said Ukrainians had the right to decide about their future and whether to be involved in war. “At the same time, we have the right to decide whether to give money and weapons — if that’s what the Americans want. But we want peace,” he said. “We will not give money or weapons to anybody, including the Ukrainians, because we want negotiations, and to forge peace and a ceasefire,” he added.

In response to a question concerning why Putin would stop at the border after victory and why would he not attack Poland and the Baltic countries, Orbán said the war in Ukraine “clearly showed that NATO is much stronger than Russia”. “Why would somebody who is weaker want to attack NATO,” he said. “It is obvious and clear that NATO is much stronger,” he added.

The war in Ukraine is “not our war” and it is exclusively the task of the Ukrainian people to decide on “questions appearing on the moral and historical horizon”, he said. “So my advice to them is: do what’s best for them, but as to what’s best for them, they should decide because Ukraine is an independent and proud country and nation,” he added.