BUDAPEST, October 4. /TASS/. The leadership of the European Union demands Hungary buy as little oil and gas as possible from Russia, but does not provide any assistance in getting alternative energy supplies, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference in Budapest after a meeting with the Minister of Environment, Climate and Energy of Slovenia, Bojan Kumer.

Hungary is "under constant pressure from Brussels to buy less energy from Russia," the foreign minister noted. "Amidst this pressure, they do not provide financial support so that we can purchase from other sources."

Szijjarto noted that the EU refuses to finance the modernization and increase in pipeline capacity in Central Europe, citing the fact that in 15 years gas will supposedly be replaced by alternative energy sources and will leave the energy balance of developed countries.

"Our priority is to resolve the situation not in 15 years, but next year. That is why we insist that the European Union provide funding," the minister explained.

He emphasized that Brussels does not have the right to dictate to EU members how they should form their energy balance, that is, which energy sources they use.

"Energy supply is not a political issue, but a matter of physical reality," Szijjarto recalled. According to him, supplies of oil or gas depend not on the political position of the country, but on the routes of pipelines that stretch into its territory from oil and gas fields.

Challenge of diversification

Szijjarto confirmed Hungary’s focus on diversifying sources and routes for the supply of energy resources. This year, the country received gas from Azerbaijan for the first time, and in the future plans to purchase it from Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Qatar. As Prime Minister Viktor Orban noted, the leadership of the European Union has clearly decided to "cut Europe off from Russian energy resources" and Hungary "is unable to stop this now." Therefore, he explained, the government sets itself the task of "mitigating the negative consequences of this decision by Brussels."

Hungary still receives the bulk of its gas and oil from Russia. In September 2021, the Hungarian company MVM entered into two long-term contracts with Gazprom, which provided for the supply of a total of 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year through pipelines going through Serbia and Austria, bypassing Ukraine. Since the use of the Nord Stream gas pipeline became untenable, an agreement was reached in October 2022 to increase the supply of Russian gas along the southern route - TurkStream and its branch through Bulgaria and Serbia. In 2022, Hungary received 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas via this route.

As for Russian oil, it goes to Hungary via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, which is exempt from EU sanctions. In 2022, 4.9 million tons of oil were supplied to Hungary via this route, which also goes to oil refineries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.