BUDAPEST, October 19. /TASS/. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjarto has criticized the proposal of the European Commission regarding joint purchases of Russian gas by the EU countries and called them "dangerous for Europe".
Earlier on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged EU partners to buy gas jointly to avoid competition, which triggers price hikes. According to her, European solidarity and European unity are the best response to "gas blackmail." The companies involved may form a gas-purchasing consortium," the EC’s President said.
"The proposal of the European Commission threatens to further reduce the volume of gas supplies to Europe," he said in a video posted on Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by Meta corporation, recognized as extremist in Russia). Szijjarto said that Hungary should not accept this "risky offer".
He also confirmed that Hungary opposes the introduction of a cap on prices for Russian gas.
Such a move "would mean the Russians would cut off natural gas supplies to Europe," the minister warned.
"The introduction of a price cap for natural gas is dangerous for Europe," Szijjarto said.
The Foreign Minister noted that Hungary receives from Russia the volume of gas specified in the long-term contract, as well as the additional volume agreed for October.
"Therefore, at present, fuel reserves in Hungarian storage facilities already account for 50% of annual consumption. This means that we have enough gas reserves for half a year. This is an excellent indicator compared to other EU countries, given that European storage facilities cannot cover all demand for natural gas," Szijjarto said.
Under a long-term agreement with Gazprom, Hungary "is guaranteed to receive 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Russian sources," the minister recalled.
He also noted that the only gas pipeline in Europe along the East-West route that operates safely and without disruptions at 100% capacity is the TurkStream, which goes from Russia to Turkey, and then through Bulgaria and Serbia to Hungary, providing a significant part of its gas needs.
In September last year, the Hungarian company MVM signed two long-term contracts with Gazprom, which provide for the supply of a total of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year through pipelines through Serbia and Austria, bypassing Ukraine.
In late August this year, Hungary signed a two-month contract with Gazprom for the supply of an additional 5.8 million cubic meters of gas per day from September 1. Since the use of the Nord Stream has now become complicated, during Szijjarto's recent visit to Moscow, an agreement was reached to increase Russian gas supplies to Hungary along the southern route - along the TurkStream pipeline and its extension through Bulgaria and Serbia.