Hungarian foreign minister travels to Moscow to discuss gas supplies

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has arrived in Moscow to ensure that the oil and gas needed for Hungary's energy supply will remain available during the crisis.

Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook wars around the world are creating extraordinary challenges for Hungary's national and energy security.

"The war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East are two armed conflicts that are causing concern at the same time. Hungary wants to stay out of any wars, and for us the security of Hungary and the Hungarian people always comes first," Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó claimed that, on the one hand, Ukrainians are blocking oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, while on the other hand Croatians are discussing the right of Hungarians to buy Russian oil by sea.

"As a result of the war in Iran, global maritime supplies of oil and gas are facing extraordinary challenges due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one third of global oil trade passes.

In this situation, I am here in Moscow to ensure that the oil and gas necessary for Hungary's energy supply will remain available during the crisis. I am here to ensure and obtain a guarantee that the amount of oil and natural gas required for our country's energy security will be delivered to Hungary despite the changing circumstances and the global energy crisis, and at the same price at which the Russians supply Hungary," he added.

The minister also used election rhetoric, stating that the level of Hungarian household utility bills will depend on Russian energy supplies.

"If energy resources from Russia do not reach Hungary, then unfortunately we will also have to forget about reducing household utility bills," he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier reproached the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia for communicating with Ukraine in a purely pragmatic manner regarding the Druzhba pipeline issue following Russian strikes, without recognising the cost Ukraine bears for maintaining transit and repairing the pipeline.

Szijjártó also claimed that the halt of oil transportation through the Druzhba pipeline amounts to an attack on Hungary carried out by Zelenskyy.