VIENNA, September 28. /TASS/. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Wednesday said the security of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline requires close attention in the wake of the incident that befell the Nord Stream lines.
"The Turkish Stream today remains the only gas pipeline through which Russian gas is transported to Europe without interruption. Even if transit through Ukraine is disrupted, we will still be able to guarantee gas supply to our country. However, the recent developments show that countries along the [pipeline’s] route need to pay close attention to its security," he said on Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as extremist in Russia).
He also said that "the gas leak at the Nord Streams puts Europe in an even more dangerous and vulnerable position than before."
"If we had succumbed to pressure, threats of sanctions and had not built the Turkish Stream, we would now have huge problems," Szijjarto said.
The Hungarian minister on Wednesday attended a meeting of energy ministers of the Organization of Turkic States in Almaty.
"Central Asia holds more than 10% of the world’s natural gas reserves, and Azerbaijan is ready to double its supplies to Europe. Therefore, the meeting of energy ministers is now very useful," the minister said.
In early August, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Turkish Stream is one of the most important routes to supply Russian gas to Europe. The Russian president said that the Turkish Stream, unlike all other lines of Russian hydrocarbon supplies, "works properly, in a regular manner, without any disruptions."
The Turkish Stream pipeline starts at a compressor station near Anapa, goes under the Black Sea and makes landfall in northwestern Turkey. The pipeline’s second line ends near the Turkish-Bulgarian border. That line, which formally is an extension of the Turkish Stream and is known as the Balkan Stream, crosses Bulgaria and Serbia before terminating in Hungary.