Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjártó met with Alexey Likhachev, the CEO of Rosatom, and Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) on Monday.
In a post on Facebook, Szijjártó said he had discussed progress on the Paks II nuclear power plant investment with Likhachev.
“Rosatom’s cooperation with German, French, Swiss, Hungarian and American suppliers as well as partners from other countries is advancing smoothly,” he added.
read also: Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil is problematic, according to analyst – Here’s why
In a separate post, Szijjártó said he had discussed the circumstances of the Kursk and Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plants with Grossi and acknowledged the director general’s neutral approach to nuclear challenges.
General conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said Hungary’s Paks II nuclear power plant project was a good example of how nuclear cooperation could bring back “rationality and common sense”, as well as hope for “a peaceful coexistence”, to global politics, addressing the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Monday.
Szijjártó noted that the Russian general contractor for the Paks II project was working with German, French, American, Swiss and Austrian partners.
He said the two new reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant would raise the country’s share of nuclear to 70pc, while cutting gas consumption by 3bn cubic metres and reducing CO2 emissions by 17m tonnes.
He said 25,000 piles were already in the ground at the site of the Paks II investment, pit excavation was about to start, a thousand workers were on site and the first concrete would be poured by the end of the year. Meanwhile, he added that Hungary was working to extend the lifecycle of the existing four blocks at Paks.
Szijjártó said the nuclear sector could not isolate itself from risks in the “age of dangers”, pointing to the impact on nuclear power plants of the war in Ukraine.
He said the rapidly changing global economy had caused demand for electricity to rise exponentially, adding that nuclear power was the only source of energy that could meet that demand in a cheap, safe and environmentally friendly way. Without nuclear power, the fight against global warming won’t be successful and climate targets won’t be achieved, he said.
Representing the European Union at the meeting, Szijjártó said the EU had attached the “utmost importance” to nuclear safety and advanced a legally binding nuclear safety framework. He added that the development of small modular reactors demanded that the highest level of safety had to be ensured.
He affirmed the EU’s commitment to cooperation with the IAEA.
He called for the IAEA to play a stronger role to ensure the secure delivery of nuclear fuel, adding that no country could obstruct the right of another country over the supply of their own energy mix.
The Republic of Korea’s Permanent Representative has been elected as the President of the IAEA’s 68th General Conference, read details HERE.
Home prices in Hungary rose 6.5pc year-on-year in August, after climbing 6.4pc in July, listings site ingatlan.com said on Friday.
Home prices in Pest County rose just 3.2pc in August, but prices in the Northern Great Plains region, home to Debrecen, Hungary’s second-biggest city, climbed 8.3pc. Prices in Western Transdanubia were up 8.1pc and prices in the capital rose 7.8pc.
The price of homes in Budapest averaged EUR 2,684/sqm in the first two weeks of September, ingatlan.com said. In Debrecen, prices averaged EUR 2,109/sqm, while they averaged EUR 2,010/sqm in Győr, EUR 2,002/sqm in Veszprém, EUR 1,980/sqm in Székesfehérvár and EUR 1,952/sqm in Szeged.
Photo: Daily News Hungary – Alpár Kató
Home prices will rise in Esztergom?
Thai President Foods will invest around HUF 18bn (EUR 45.5 million) to expand capacity at its noodle plant in Esztergom (North Hungary), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártóannounced on Friday. The state is supporting the investment, which will create 80 jobs, with HUF 2bn, Szijjarto said. He added that local suppliers’ share of Thai President Foods’ feedstock was on the rise.
Close to 100pc of the plant’s output is exported, mainly to markets in Europe. European countries open to investments by Asian companies can profit much in the new era of the global economy, Szijjarto said, adding that Hungary was the “best example” of that.
The investment in Esztergom by the Thai-owned company, clearly shows the success of the government’s Eastern Opening policy, he said, adding that Asian companies were dictating the pace in a number of sectors, taking the place of their Western competitors.
He noted that bilateral trade between Hungary and Thailand had exceeded USD 750m last year.
He added that around 155,000 people were employed in the food sector in Hungary. Since 2014, the government has provided support for 78 big food industry investments, creating close to 9,000 jobs. About half of food sector output is exported.
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Orbán against the EU? Hungarian PM: economic neutrality is in Hungary’s interest, not the blocs – Interview in THISarticle
Continuous investment records prove that the players in the international corporate world continue to trust Hungary, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday in Budapest when announcing a HUF 9bn investment by Dutch-owned Aalberts Surface Technologies.
Szijjártó: Hungary needs similar investments
The minister said the metal surface treatment company is expanding capacity at its base in Tatabánya (NW Hungary), increasing headcount to nearly 200, with a HUF 1.1bn grant from the government.
Mr Szijjártó noted the need for similar investments, since the continuously growing automotive and battery production capacities also require local suppliers, so that the supply chains can be as short as possible.
Dutch companies represent the twelfth largest investment community in Hungary and bilateral trade was close to EUR 12bn last year, he said.
Mutual respect characterizes the cooperation between the two countries, with a few exceptions, and we are constantly looking for cooperation opportunities, he added.
While this issue is not yet fully reflected in the stock price of the Hungarian energy company MOL, Russian oil poses a serious threat, according to an analysis by Erste Bank. The European Commission has also expressed significant concerns over Hungary’s reliance on Russian energy.
Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil
Pénzcentrum reports that Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Péter Szijjártó, stated in an interview with Russian TV channel RBK that the country is heavily reliant on Russian oil to maintain its energy supply due to a lack of alternative infrastructure. He warned that current developments could lead to a sharp increase in oil prices. Zsolt Hernádi, CEO of MOL, noted that the eastern transport route remains the most feasible option for Hungary and Slovakia, while transitioning to the Adriatic pipeline would require substantial investment and several years to complete.
Photo: depositphotos.com
European Commission raises concerns
The European Commission has voiced concern over Hungary‘s growing dependence on Russian oil. Imports rose from 58 percent to 77 percent between 2021 and 2023, in stark contrast to the efforts of other EU countries to reduce their reliance on Russian energy.
According to Erste Bank, MOL faces significant external economic challenges. The situation could worsen if Russian oil supplies are disrupted or in case the Hungarian government imposes additional taxes. Such measures could seriously impact the company’s financial outlook and its ability to distribute dividends to shareholders.
The MOL Tower in Budapest. Photo: FB/MOL Campus
Potential blockade of the Friendship pipeline
Tamás Pletser, an oil and gas analyst at Erste Bank, warned that a disruption in oil supplies from Russia could become inevitable due to political or technical reasons, particularly given the ongoing war in Ukraine. He suggested that Ukraine might resort to missile strikes or impose blockades on Russian oil, posing a severe threat to the operation of the Friendship (Druzhba) pipeline, which is crucial to Hungary’s energy supply.
Druzhba pipeline. Photo: Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0
Hungary aims to have the first three groups of Albania’s EU accession chapters opened during Hungary’s current European Union presidency, the foreign minister said in Tirana on Wednesday.
Szijjártó supports Albania’s EU accession
The ministry cited Szijjártó as saying at a joint press conference with Albanian counterpart Igli Hasani that Hungary was fulfilling the EU presidency in a period when the continent faces extraordinarily serious challenges and it has so far been unable to find effective responses.
“As a result, the EU is currently in a bad shape and its competitiveness is continually decreases. The problems need to be cured and we believe the best cure to these troubles would be the EU’s enlargement in the direction of the western Balkans,” Szijjártó said.
He said that the EU would need new impetus and new energy which the minister said “could arrive from the Western Balkans”.
“As a result, it is no exaggeration to say that the EU would need the Western Balkans countries more than those countries need EU membership,” he said.
Szijjártó said it was Hungary’s national interest that there is development, peace and stability in its neighbourhood, in the Western Balkans, and that “enlargement would serve a perfect means.”
He said this was the reason why the Hungarian government was “a passionate supporter” of EU enlargement and the most important goal of the presidency period was aligned with this.
Szijjártó said the Western Balkan countries had been waiting for accession on average for more than fourteen years.
“We consider this disrespectful with the Western Balkan countries and nations and urge the acceleration of the enlargement process,” he said.
“We clearly believe that Albania has been performing excellently in the accession process and therefore Albania deserves moving forward,” he added.
“Therefore the Hungarian presidency is planning to organise two intergovernmental conferences in Brussels between Albania and the EU, where our goal is to have the first three groups of chapters opened for Albania’s accession,” he said.
“There is no reason for delay, all further delay is against the EU’s interests and all further delay undermines the credibility of enlargement policy,” Szijjártó added.
Speaking about bilateral relations, he said the two countries had achieved great successes in economic cooperation, with a record high trade turnover last year, adding that Hungarian exports to Albania were expected to set a new record.
He said three Hungarian companies had entered the group of market leaders in three important sectors. In air transport Wizz Air is clearly at first place with its around 70 percent share, OTP is at third place among bank market players with its nearly 20 percent share, and 4iG is also market leader in the field of mobile services, and has such ambitious plans as linking Egypt and Albania with an optical cable under the sea.
“All of this shows that the cooperation of Hungary and Albania is a success story and for our part we are ready to continue this success story,” Szijjártó said.
Hungary is building a comprehensive strategic partnership with Chad encompassing the areas of defence, the economy and education, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday, adding that this would further strengthen the country’s stabilising role in the Sahel.
Szijjártó talks about partnership with Chad
At a joint press conference with counterpart Abderaman Koulamallah, Szijjártó highlighted the Chadian president’s “historic” first-time visit to Hungary.
“We’re talking about two countries that devote special attention to preserving their sovereignty, two countries that take a clear stand for peace,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement. He said both countries believed that wars should be settled with negotiation rather than weapons.
Szijjártó said armed conflicts have caused serious challenges for both Hungary and Chad in recent years, and both countries rejected any steps in international politics that risked escalation in the ongoing conflicts.
He said Europe faced a number of security challenges, with one of the main ones being illegal migration along with the growing threat of terrorism that was closely related to it. He said illegal migration into the European Union could not be stopped without cooperation with the Sahel region.
“We know full well the importance of the stabilising role Chad plays in this critical region of Africa, so it is also as the country holding the rotating presidency of the European Union that we do our part in developing the cooperation between the European Union and the Sahel, as well as in stopping illegal migration,” he said, adding that Hungary was building a strategic partnership with Chad.
“We have signed the strategic cooperation agreement on this along with the cooperation agreements on defence and animal husbandry,” Szijjártó said. “This is a comprehensive partnership that has a defence, economic and education pillar as well.”
He said Hungary is prepared to launch a 150-200 million euro tied aid programme to support agriculture, the food industry, and the development of water supply, education and digitalisation in the central African country.
Also, the Hungary Helps humanitarian scheme is launching a one million US dollar aid programme to prevent the spread of infections and improve health care in Chad, he added.
Szijjártó said the Hungarian government has initiated the transfer of a 14 million euro contribution from the European Peace Facility to support the development of Chad’s defence capacities, adding that EU ambassadors are scheduled to discuss the proposal on Sept 26.
He said that under their defence cooperation pact, Hungary and Chad will work to ensure that their exchanges of knowledge and experiences can contribute to the success of the fight against terrorism.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Hungary will offer university scholarships to 25 Chadian students each year.
He also announced that Hungary will elevate its diplomatic mission in N’Djamena to embassy status.
A consistent enlargement policy is one of the priorities of the Hungarian EU Council presidency, and the aim is a successful support of Moldova’s integration, a state secretary of the public administration and regional development ministry said in Budapest on Monday.
Hungary supports Moldova’s integration
Miklós Dukai told a seminar organised by the Hungarian Diplomatic Academy that EU enlargement would lead to a more competitive cooperation within the bloc, as well as offer new opportunities for the aspirant country.
He noted that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had pledged unconditional support to Moldova’s integration immediately after the EU decided to start accession talks with that country, Dukai said. “Meetings where member states share their experiences with membership candidates are an excellent opportunity to promote reforms in candidate countries and to help fulfilling EU requirements.”
Hungary is committed to sharing information and its 20-year experience as an EU member state with Moldova, to help its integration, he said.
At the two-day seminar held mainly for experts of Moldovan municipalities, participants will hear detailed presentation on the characteristics and tasks of the Hungarian network of local authorities, as specified in the 2011 legislation designed to bring about “a modern, cost-effective, task-oriented system”, he said.
Miklós Lengyel, a deputy state secretary of the foreign ministry, said Moldova was a highly important strategic partner for Hungary. Hungary is committed to developing bilateral ties as well as EU-level relations with Moldova, Lengyel said.
Hungary and Kuwait have agreed to boost cooperation in several areas, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Thursday in Kuwait City.
Hungary-Kuwait cooperation
Speaking after talks with the Kuwaiti foreign, finance and trade ministers, Péter Szijjártó said cooperation was based on “mutual sympathy and the fact that the history of both countries is marked by the fight for freedom and independence.”
According to a ministry statement, the ministers signed a cooperation agreement on exchange programmes between diplomatic academies, as well as on cultural cooperation.
The latter will bring Hungarian music and literature to Kuwait, he said. “We have also signed an agreement on cooperation in cyber protection, a response to an extremely severe modern challenge, as wars and conflicts are now clearly being fought in cyberspace as well as in reality,” Szijjártó said.
Hungary, he added, had already garnered international recognition in cyber protection, “and cooperation with Kuwait will boost our security in cyberspace”. A leading Hungarian company in the field has already set up a subsidiary in Kuwait, and its 50 professionals will start working with local authorities and private clients next year, he said.
Szijjártó welcomed that talks between Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and its Kuwaiti counterpart were “in the home stretch” on Kuwait using Hungarian technologies towards the production of crude oil in a more effective and environmentally friendly way.
An investment protection agreement is also in the pipeline aiming to promote cooperation between Hungarian and Kuwaiti companies, Szijjártó said.
Hungary will also help Kuwait in drafting and implementing strict food safety regulations, he said. “Hungary’s food safety system is the strictest and most effective in Europe. Keeping Hungarian agriculture and food industry GMO-free is enshrined in the constitution,” he said.
Szijjártó praised Kuwait’s “calm stance” in stabilising the Middle East, a region blighted by several armed conflicts and under the serious threat of terrorism.
“So we have strengthened Kuwait and Hungary’s cooperation against terrorism in international forums in order to stop the spread of terrorist organisations…” he said. The ministers also discussed upcoming summits of the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Hungary is working for the EU to strengthen ties with the region, which could help recover the EU’s competitiveness and economic momentum, he said. “We are calling for re-starting negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Persian Gulf.”
dHungary is “doing everything in its power” during its rotating presidency of the European Union to speed up the bloc’s enlargement and “will give every assistance to Moldova so that it can join the community as soon as possible,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Chisinau on Friday.
At a press conference held jointly with his Moldovan counterpart Mihai Popsoi, Szijjártó referred to the current security challenges and “extreme economic hardships”, and said “an emerging new world order will not facilitate the strenghtening of the EU”.
Enlarging the community could “lend new momentum and energy … new ambitions” to the community. Among Hungary’s efforts to help Moldova in its endeavours to join the EU, the minister mentioned a training opportunity at the Hungarian Diplomatic Academy for 50 Moldovan officials who could then “have a key role in the accession talks”.
He added that the first group of 32 Moldovans were expected to arrive next week, to attend courses in the areas of municipal government, tax policy, and agriculture regime.
Szijjártó also said that candidates for EU membership should be evaluated on an individual basis, adding that “we will never approve of a candidate’s progress being impeded by another country … if we did so, weaker or slower candidates could restrain their better-performing peers.”
“We will provide every assistance that the European Commission screening now underway be completed as soon as possible and that the actual accession talks should start,” Szijjártó said.
The minister slammed “Brussels hypocrisy” and said that “most EU members will support enlargement in public, but many will argue against it behind closed doors.”
“A pro-enlargement presidency’s top priority is to make things clear and encourage everybody to reflect honestly on the subject, and make those who are supportive in public also provide substantive support,” he said.
Touching upon the strategic partnership between Hungary and Moldova, signed in 2020, Szijjártó said bilateral trade hit new records in 2023, having increased by two and a half times over the past 10 years.
Szijjártó calls for sincere communication, end to ‘deception’, on EU enlargement
Northern and western European, and Baltic states, should “finally put an end to deception” and talk sincerely about the issue of European Union enlargement, Szijjártó said.
The ministry cited Szijjártó telling a joint press conference with North Macedonian counterpart Timcho Mucunski that both countries attached great significance to bilateral cooperation, especially in the current period characterised by severe challenges facing the continent, when “it appears the EU has not found the correct responses to difficulties”.
“Had we found them, Europe would not be ailing,” he said.
“We believe the current situation is proof that it is high time for the European Union to return to politics based on common sense and to accept that Europe cannot be stable if there is no stability in its direct neighbourhood, therefore dialogue must be enhanced with the EU’s neighbours,” he added.
“And they must finally understand in Brussels and in the western and eastern Europe, and Baltic capitals that the European Union indeed needs the Western Balkans, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the EU now needs the Western Balkans more than the other way round,” he said.
The EU needs new energy which can come from the Western Balkans, because the ambitions and rapid development of states in the region could generate the impetus that the bloc currently lacks, he added. Szijjártó said there was “huge hypocrisy” in the EU when it came to enlargement, with everybody making supportive public statements but behind closed doors, the majority of people forming a disapproving position.
Had it not been the case, North Macedonia would not be in the underserved situation of being a candidate country for nineteen years, and accession talks still not starting, he said. Szijjártó said the government would make every effort for an intergovernmental conference to be organised with North Macedonia before the end of the Hungarian EU presidency which would enable opening the first chapters of accession talks.
“Additionally, we are calling on the European Commission to start payments due for the development of North Macedonia under the arrangements of the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans,” he said. He added that the government in Skopje had fulfilled all the necessary conditions and the transfer of EU resources “are not always without political prejudice, and not always done in line with objective conditions”.
He expressed thanks to Western Balkan leaders for a joint letter they sent to support Oliver Varhelyi, asking for the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement to be allowed to continue his work. He said bilateral trade between North Macedonia and Hungary grew five-fold in recent years, adding that “Hungary’s government will continue to support domestic companies to carry out investments in North Macedonia in strategic areas”.
Szijjártó said the sides had confirmed their commitment to stop illegal migration which posed a fundamental threat to the security of the Western Balkans.
EU affairs minister: Hungary EU presidency represents change
Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union aims to represent and promote change in the EU, thereby also working in the interest of Hungary’s success, János Bóka, the EU affairs minister, said at the plenary session of the 62nd Itinerant Conference of Economists in Nyiregyháza, in north-eastern Hungary, on Friday.
“The European Union is changing, and it should,” the minister said, arguing that as an EU member Hungary had a vested interest in the bloc’s success. Bóka said there was broad support for EU membership in Hungary just as there had been 20 years ago when the country joined the bloc, adding that there was no alternative to EU membership. He said Hungary was bound to Europe both culturally and historically.
“Our place is in Europe and in the EU,” he said, adding that Europeanness formed an integral part of modern Hungarian identity. Hungary’s security, he said, could only be guaranteed if the country was part of a strong defence community, one of whose pillars was NATO and the other the EU.
He said that with Hungary’s open and export-oriented economy, it was “inconceivable” to achieve growth and development goals without an unlimited access to the common market. Bóka said there were no disagreements on Hungary’s EU membership within the government. EU membership, he added, did not mean “the end of history”, because as the world continues to change, so must relations.
Turning to the priorities of the Hungarian presidency, he mentioned the EU’s competitiveness. He said that whereas in 1992 the EU had accounted for more than 21 percent of the global economy, by 2022 this had shrunk to 14.8 percent.
He said that to restore competitiveness it was critical to address demographic challenges, including guaranteeing a skilled workforce in the most important sectors, and ensuring the European economy’s access to raw materials and affordable energy. Europe’s capital market, he said, lagged behind that of the United States in terms of development, and this led to a competitive disadvantage.
Bóka called the EU’s post-pandemic Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF) the “biggest failure of recent years”, arguing that its implementation had been too drawn out and slow, and its administrative burdens were too high. The implementation of the green transition, he added, could also be considered a failure because it was still impossible to tell what kinds of financial resources the “road to climate neutrality” required and what its economic effects would be.
The Hungarian presidency considers it a priority to adopt a new competitiveness pact focused on industrial transition, the management of labour and demographic problems, investment in innovation and skills as well as the renewal of funding, Bóka said. He said the EU’s competitiveness would be a main topic at the Nov 8 informal summit of EU leaders in Budapest.
Meanwhile, Bóka underlined the importance of developing the EU’s cohesion policy in a way that guarantees that it is capable of helping less developed regions catch up with the rest of the bloc. He noted that the EU is set to begin planning its next multi-year budget during the Hungarian presidency.
He said plans were to shift financing from traditional policies to new policies that boost competitiveness. He said this would also mean that the EU would finance policies that favour member states with a higher level of development, which would leave fewer resources available in terms of real value, and access to them would be even more closely linked to the fulfilment of the political criteria set by the European Commission. The minister said it was also important for the Hungarian presidency to achieve “tangible results” on EU enlargement.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Friday slammed what he called “ridiculous and deceitful” actions by the Baltic countries when it came to the expansion of Hungary’s National Card programme, adding that “this propaganda tsunami has also found fertile ground in Brussels”.
The number of Russian citizens in Hungary is just 0.7 percent of the more than one million Russians in the European Union, Szijjártósaid in response to a question at a joint press conference with his North Macedonian counterpart, according to a ministry statement.
“And in Germany — if I recall correctly — there’s 300,000,” he said. “In the Baltic countries, which were the loudest throughout the summer, there’s a total of 140,000, 20 times as many as in Hungary. And then the Baltic states launch a huge propaganda tsunami on us with the help of the European liberal media on how dangerous this is.”
Szijjártó said he had debated the matter at the last meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council where his Lithuanian counterpart had talked about a “dramatic increase in the number of Belarusian citizens travelling with a Hungarian visa”. He said the truth, however, was that the Hungarian embassy in Minsk has issued fewer visas so far this year than at this point last year.
Photo: FB/Szijjártó
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said, Germany, Italy and Russia had “radically” increased the number of visas issued to Belarusians.
Szijjártó talks about Russian spies
“So what they’re doing is ridiculous. Ridiculous and deceitful,” Szijjártó said. “It’s typical of the current Baltic governments, so we ask that they stop with these lies. It’s clear, however, that this has found fertile ground in Brussels, because the European Commission is now asking for all kinds of details and asking all sorts of questions, but the point is that when they’re confronted with reality, they’re not that happy anymore.”
Commenting on the Ukrainian president’s request to be allowed to use Western weapons to strike deep within Russian territory, Szijjártó said such measures were all dangerous and posed a risk of escalation. He said the focus should finally be on diplomacy over weapons.
He said Hungary is the only EU and NATO member that has not and will not supply weapons to Ukraine.
Szijjártó said Hungary’s peace mission was “a constant one”, and expressed hope that political debates in Europe would soon reach a point where those who talk about peace “aren’t immediately branded Russian spies”.
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Baltic states launch ‘campaign of lies’ against Hungary, Orbán government says
The foreign minister said in Bled on Monday that Slovenia and Hungary’s economic and energy cooperation is the most effective yet, and both parties are open to further boosting ties.
Péter Szijjártó said he met the Slovenian foreign minister and the energy minister on the sidelines of the Bled Strategic Forum and discussed the main issues of cooperation with them.
Bilateral trade hit new records last year and surpassed 4 billion euros, with “significant” growth registered in the first half of 2024, too, Szijjártó said.
He said Hungarian companies are also gaining traction in Slovenia and contributing to its development, pointing to the Hungarian bank OTP, which has just become a market leader in Slovenia.
“We are also proud to see [Hungarian oil and gas company] MOL becoming second on the fuel market, having bought several stations.”
Meanwhile, he said Hungary and Slovenia are also on the same ground regarding the European Union’s enlargement, which they see as crucial for the bloc’s future. “Hungary and Slovenia are both pro-enlargement. They are convinced that the EU has at least as much interest in integrating the Western Balkans as vice versa,” he said.
The minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Mohács, in southern Hungary, on Monday that ensuring that all Hungarians benefit from the success of the government’s investment strategy and its positive impact in the form of new jobs, stable livelihoods, and developing infrastructure is an important goal of Hungary’s government.
Péter Szijjártó addressed the inauguration of an over 2 billion forint (EUR 5.1m) capacity expansion project of Austrian Kronospan’s wood-based panel manufacturing plant.
According to a foreign ministry statement, Szijjártó said the Hungarian state has contributed 286 million forints to the project.
He said the new equipment would increase the plant’s capacity to an annual 240,000 cubic meters. The plant in Mohács purchases more than 50 percent of its basic materials from Hungarian producers and sells 90 percent of its products in export markets, Szijjártó added.
The minister said that amid difficulties and changes in the world economy in the past years, Hungary had maintained its stability and remained an attractive country in the international competition for investments.
“This recent investment will largely contribute to the development of Hungary’ wood industry which employs 14,000 people and records a close to 500 billion forint volume of production. Its exports is well over 50 percent which is a proof of its competitiveness,” Szijjártó said.
Austria is Hungary’s fourth largest trading partner, he said, adding that there were more than 2,300 Austrian-owned businesses operating in Hungary which employ some 75,000 people.
Hungary is ready for the heating season and natural gas supplies are continuous from the south, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in St Petersburg on Friday, adding that the country’s energy security was “guaranteed in the long term”.
Szijjártó held talks with Alexey Miller, the CEO of Russia’s state gas company Gazprom, and the foreign ministry quoted him as highlighting the importance of the Turk Stream gas pipeline in terms of Hungary’s gas supplies, as well as Hungary’s 15-year gas purchase agreement with Gazprom, signed in 2021.
“The long-term agreement and the secure transit route in the south guarantee that natural gas delivery for Hungary is uninterrupted and stable despite an extremely difficult geopolitical environment,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
“Gazprom is meeting its commitments taken in the 2021 agreement; Turkiye, Bulgaria, and Serbia, as reliable transit countries, ensure a continuous supply of gas from Russia to Hungary,” the minister said.
He noted that Hungary had received some 5.6 billion cubic metres of gas via Turk Stream last year, while since the beginning of 2024, the volume of gas received had amounted to 4.8 billion, highlighting the increasing importance of the southern route.
“Our gas storage facilities are 89 percent full … an amount which could cover 57 percent of Hungary’s annual demand,” Szijjártó said, adding that the European average of gas reserves was 27 percent of the total storage capacity.
Szijjártó highlighted Gazprom’s commitment to meeting their contracted obligations in full and said “our commitment is the same; this is a mutually beneficial agreement that we would not give up in any way.”
“Purchasing natural gas from Russia does not fall under any sanctions and our goal is clear: we want to and will ensure Hungary’s energy supplies and will not accept any related restrictions,” he said.
David Pressman, the US ambassador to Budapest, is “a leading figure of the Hungarian opposition”, and his statements must be handled as such, the foreign minister said on Thursday.
At a press conference after an informal European Union foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Péter Szijjártó said in response to a question concerning Pressman’s criticism of Hungary’s “peace mission” that the US ambassador was “an opposition activist and one of the leading figures of the Hungarian opposition”.
“His statements must be assessed accordingly,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement. “And if I want to talk about the contents of his opposition activist statements, then I could say that interestingly, when the Italian prime minister went to China, and said that China was an essential partner for dialogue in the current fragile international situation, then the opposition activist did not activate himself.”
“Or when President Zelensky called Donald Trump, he did not express any condemnation, or when the Ukrainian foreign minister recently visited China, we could not hear any criticism from him,” he added.
“So it is obvious that his statements came from and were inspired by his opposition position,” he said.
Commenting on criticism voiced by his Lithuanian counterpart, Szijjártó said Gabrielius Landsbergis was “one of the most pro-war politicians” in Europe.
“He is competing for the title of most pro-war politician; he regularly criticises Hungary’s pro-peace position. I believe his assessment of the situation cannot be considered realistic in any aspect,” he added.
The European Union remains incapable of undertaking a realistic assessment regarding the war in Ukraine, and “war psychosis is still rampant” in the bloc, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels on Thursday.
Hungarian companies are discriminated in Ukraine, says Szijjártó
At a press conference, Szijjártó lamented that most member states thought that the war’s territorial expansion did not carry a risk of escalation, and that some of his counterparts had even said that allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets in Russia was “a way of achieving peace”.
According to ministry statement, Szijjártó said that because of the extent to which “this goes against reality . we must conclude that this blind pro-war stance and pro-war psychosis will continue to hold sway here in Brussels in the coming months”.
He said several member states urged the EU to allocate a further more than 6 billion euros from the European Peace Facility towards weapons deliveries, adding that Hungary “will not contribute to freeing up a single euro cent as long as Hungarian companies are discriminated against in Ukraine” and measures endangering Hungary’s energy security were in effect.
Szijjártó said the EU’s foreign policy chief had tried to apply pressure in the interest of allowing the deployment of Western weapons against targets in Russia.
Photo: FB/Szijjártó
We have not and won’t supply weapons to Ukraine
“Hungary’s stance is clear,” the minister said. “We have not and won’t supply weapons to Ukraine, because we’re convinced that the more weapons there are in use in the war in Ukraine, the longer it will last.”
Szijjártó said there was also mounting pressure to expand and extend the EU’s training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, noting that Hungary was not participating in this, either.
“We’ve made it clear that if they want to expand either the territorial scope or function of this training mission, Hungary will not contribute to it,” he said.
He also warned against the “extremely dangerous” idea of continuing the training mission in Ukraine, saying this posed a “serious risk” of escalation. He said that if the EU wanted to extend the mission’s duration in its current form without expanding it elsewhere, Hungary would not block it, but would not support it, either.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said several participants at the meeting had raised the subject of tightening sanctions, with some of them proposing that they be expanded to include the energy sector. He also said that “a significant number of member states . secretly and hypocritically” continued to by Russian energy.
Photo: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter
“I think it’s every country’s and every company’s own business if they buy energy in a way that doesn’t violate the sanctions,” Szijjártó said. “But then why lie? Why be hypocritical? Why not be open, honest and straightforward about it?”
Szijjártó started his press conference by saying that though the informal meeting of foreign ministers would be traditionally held in the country holding the EU’s rotating presidency, it had been moved to Brussels with the intent of “disciplining” Hungary for its pro-peace position. He added, however, that “this won’t work”, vowing that Hungary will continue to urge peace in Ukraine.
Hungarian foreign minister slams EU foreign policy chief’s ‘dangerous’ Middle East proposals
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Thursday criticised what he called “dangerous and unreasonable proposals” put forward by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell concerning the situation in the Middle East. Speaking at a press conference after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Szijjártó said Borrell “has seemingly lost control” and was putting forward proposals “that are extremely dangerous for Europe”.
Szijjártó criticised a proposal for the EU to impose sanctions on two Israeli ministers.
“It’s an extremely dangerous and absolutely unreasonable proposal, because such a decision would raise major question marks in the Middle East, and would completely undermine the cooperation between the European Union and Israel,” Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
He praised Israel for its agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the launch of a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.
“This step must be appreciated,” he said. “They wanted to adopt a joint position here today that would have criticised Israel in spite of this agreement, so we asked that it be amended.”
Szijjártó also welcomed Israel’s commitment to guaranteeing religious freedom on the Temple Mount and in the country’s holy places.
“Certain steps in the recent period have raised concern among certain Israeli politicians and certain Christian communities,” he said. “And in this respect I believe the Israeli foreign minister’s and prime minister’s public commitment to maintaining the freedom to practise religion is significant.”
EU-Türkiye cooperation in migration
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said Thursday’s meeting was also attended by Türkiye’s foreign minister, noting that there had not been such a high-level meeting between the EU and Türkiye in the last five years.
He underscored the importance of preserving the EU and Türkiye’s cooperation on migration, saying he had asked his Turkish counterpart “not to let themselves be talked out of keeping migration at bay just because they see an EU member state being made to pay tens and hundreds of thousands of forints for protecting its borders”.
Szijjártó said he and his Turkish counterpart did not hold bilateral talks this time because they could “do so at any time” and will talk on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting next month.
The minister said Türkiye was “indispensable” when it came to responding to the challenges before the EU, whether it be energy security or migration.
On another subject, he said the deadly stabbing in Germany last weekend had demonstrated “just how dangerous and unreasonable the pressure Brussels is trying to put on Hungary is”.
“We don’t want a Solingen in Hungary, we don’t want stabbings in Hungary, we don’t want illegal migrants in Hungary, so it’s simply shocking and outrageous that while the number of crimes committed and the number of people killed by illegal migrants in Europe is rising, the European Union is punishing us because we protect ourselves and our border and don’t allow illegal immigrants into the country,” he said.
EU ‘idly watches’ Ukraine ‘playing with’ energy security?
Ukraine has threatened the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia by making Russian Lukoil‘s crude oil transit impossible and the European Commission has not taken any action, the foreign minister said on Thursday. Szijjártó told a press conference after a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels that his Ukrainian counterpart had also attended the consultations and talked much about the Russian attacks against his country’s energy grid.
“Hungary’s position is clear,” he said. “A country’s energy supply is a matter of national security. As a result, when a country threatens the security of another country’s energy supplies, then it also threatens that country’s national security interests.”
“And this is exactly what has happened in respect of Ukraine and Hungary. By making around a third of Hungarian oil imports from Russia practically impossible by legal means, Ukraine is undermining the security of Hungary’s energy supplies or at least subjects it to serious challenges,” he said.
He added that the same applied also in connection with Slovakia where Ukraine had blocked around 40-45 percent of Russian oil imports.
EU limiting energy security for Hungary and Slovakia?
“And I must say that the European Commission has shown its true colours, because either the European Union is so weak that it cannot protect two member states’ energy security against a non-member country, or it has created the whole situation itself and Kyiv had actually been instructed by Brussels to introduce measures that limit energy security for Hungary and Slovakia,” he said.
Whichever happens to be the case, “it is disappointing that the European Union is either so weak or it is trying to hide so boldly behind Kyiv to force Hungary and Slovakia to change their pro-peace position,” he said.
Szijjártó said that together with his Slovak counterpart they had expressed their disappointment in connection with the EC’s handling of the issue and noted that both countries were making considerable contributions to the security of Ukraine’s supplies.
“Some 42 percent of Ukraine’s electricity imports currently arrive in Ukraine through Hungary and Hungarian state companies have made significant investments in order to enable synchronised cooperation between European and Ukrainian systems,” he added.
“Without these measures, Ukraine’s electricity supplies would not be secured… And despite this we had to face Ukraine playing with the security of energy supplies for Hungary and for Slovakia,” he said.
Continual talks
Szijjártó said there were continual talks with Russian suppliers and the Ukrainian system operator about finding a legal solution to guarantee long term supplies.
“But let me tell you again, it should not be us having to deal with this task but either the Ukrainians should restore the original situation or the European Union should take action in this matter,” he added.
With the help of different types of temporary measures, supplies could be successfully secured in the short term and medium term, but in the case of energy only a long-term solution was acceptable, he said.
“As a result, we will certainly continue the talks and hope that agreements can be signed soon that will enable the long-term security of energy supplies,” he added.
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Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Wednesday flagged “increasingly ominous reports” on Europe’s present and future security situation.
“The stabbing rampage in Solingen — which unfortunately isn’t an isolated occurrence based on the developments in recent months — shocked not only Germany, but the entire continent,” Szijjártósaid on Facebook.
Meanwhile, he said, the European Union’s outgoing foreign policy chief was “demanding more weapons for Ukraine and that the country be allowed to use the Western weapons it has received so far to strike in Russian territory”.
Photo: FB/Péter Szijjártó
Szijjártó said there were “important and critical days ahead”. He noted that EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday and that elections are being held in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony this weekend, which he said would be crucial in terms of the future of Europe’s migration policy.
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Construction of Hungary’s seaport moves one step closer – But with reduced functionality, read our article HERE
Did the Orbán cabinet want to bug German MEP with Israeli spy software? – details in THIS article
If Brussels forces Hungary to let migrants in, then it must also welcome them, Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international relations and communications, said on the X platform on Wednesday.
For almost a decade, Hungary has protected the EU’s external border, spending more than 2 billion euros of its own money to meet its Schengen obligations, the state secretary said, citing a letter by Tamás Iván Kovács, Hungary’s ambassador to Belgium, to the Socialist mayor of Brussels, Phillippe Close.
“[I]t is Hungary, not Brussels, that has suffered from a lack of solidarity,” Kovácssaid, adding that all it got in return for rigorously protecting the EU border was a fine of 200 million euros.
“Hungary will not compromise its national security or bear this burden alone, especially when Brussels seems to desire migrantsonly as long as they remain in other EU member states,” he said, adding that the call for solidarity was not just rhetorical, but “a demand for fair treatment and genuine support from the EU”.
In his letter to Close, Hungary’s ambassador asked the mayor for his solidarity and support in ensuring that the EU did not penalise countries that comply with the Schengen Agreement and protect their external borders.
Ambassador Kovács’s letter came in response to a post on X by Close in which he said that Hungary, while enjoying the solidarity of the EU, was “abandoning the other member states in a scandalous way”. He said it was “irresponsible to gamble with the lives of people in need at the expense of the people of Brussels”, and called on Hungary to “act responsibly or give up its presidency of the Council of the EU”.
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Hungarian government plans to take legal stepsagainst Brussels’ migrant measures
From September until the end of next year, seabed cleaning will be carried out at the Port of Trieste, where Hungary holds a concession. Once the area has been cleaned, the site, which was originally purchased five years ago, will serve as Hungary’s seaport, functioning as a logistics base for cargo traffic and container management.
According to HVG, citing a statement from the Trieste port authority, the cleaning of the port area where the Hungarian state holds a concession will commence on 2nd September and is expected to continue until 31st December 2025.
Authorities have also approved plans to modify the Hungarian concession area. The new plans involve straightening the quay and removing the pier that accommodates ro-ro (roll-on/roll-off) ships. In practice, this change means that the quay will no longer be able to handle barges and ferries. Additionally, the Hungarian concession area will be reduced from 63,200 square metres to 60,500 square metres.
View of the Trieste seaports. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
No progress on Hungary’s seaport in the last five years
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and then-Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced in 2019 that Hungary would establish a port and logistics base in the Italian city of Trieste. The ‘Hungary’s seaport’ deal was finally concluded at the end of 2020.
At the time, Szijjártó said that Hungary had purchased a 32-hectare plot with a 300-metre shoreline in the Port of Trieste for EUR 31 million, as part of a 60-year concession agreement. He stressed that “the agreement marks the beginning of a new chapter in Hungarian-Italian relations, with cooperation between the two countries never having been so promising.”
Technically, as HVG points out, Hungary did not purchase the port itself, but rather acquired a concession along with the land behind the concession area, valid until 2074.
According to the Italian press, the total value of the investment now stands at EUR 206.4 million, with EUR 48.9 million allocated for the clean-up and development of the site, and EUR 157.5 million earmarked for the development of the adjacent Hungarian state-owned land.
Indeed, the area of Hungary’s seaport and the surrounding industrial zone, which was formerly occupied by an oil refinery, requires significant development and clean-up. However, as HVG notes, no substantial progress has been made in developing the terminal and Hungary’s seaport over the past five years.
The project company has remained tight-lipped. In response to a query from HVG in early August, Adria Port Plc. stated:
“Preparations for the development of the Hungarian terminal are proceeding at a satisfactory pace. The construction of the seawall and dredging works can start this year, for which the work site has already been handed over.”
View of Trieste ports. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ships have yet to dock, but Adria Port Plc. is not on a budget
Last August, Átlátszó reported on the status of Hungary’s seaport and the background of Adria Port Plc. The paper noted that “the state company set up for the project has been burning public money since 2019.”
Átlátszó highlighted that the company had booked substantial losses up until 2023, totalling EUR 2.75 million in the red. Nevertheless, as of 2023, Adria Port was renting offices in both Budapest and Trieste, spending several million forints on furnishing them, and renting cars at EUR 2,500 per month. The company’s CEO reportedly received a monthly salary of approximately EUR 5,000, with the company also paying several consultants undisclosed sums.
Read also:
Hungary to set up port, logistics base in Trieste – HERE
Hungary one step closer to having its own seaport – Read HERE
