BUDAPEST, March 11. /TASS/. The European energy market has become the "tightest market" in the world due to the war in the Middle East and the EU's refusal to buy oil and gas from Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a government meeting broadcast on national television.

He noted that the situation surrounding Iran is escalating and isn’t likely to be resolved anytime soon.

"This means that huge volumes of oil will disappear from the international market, and supplies will become completely unstable. In this situation, Europe is a double loser, since, in addition to the damage caused by the absolute uncertainty surrounding maritime trade, Brussels' earlier decisions to reject Russian energy supplies have led to Europe now having the smallest amount of energy resources in the world," the Foreign Minister said.

"Thus, the European energy market is the tightest and most insufficient in the world," Szijjarto stressed. He recalled the existing ban on maritime shipments of Russian oil and petroleum products to EU countries and the decision to completely stop transporting energy resources from Russia in 2027. According to him, Brussels has cut Europe off from key sources in the Eurasian region.

"Now, the core for the functioning of the European economy can only be provided by energy supplies from more distant, and therefore more expensive, sources," the minister said.

He also highlighted soaring gas prices in the EU.

"All European countries are already facing very significant price increases," Szijjarto said.

As a result, the war in the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine, which prompted the EU to impose a ban on Russian oil and gas, will continue to negatively affect international energy markets, he stated.

"As for Europe's energy supply, we must assume that it will become the continent with the greatest energy shortage in the world. In this regard, the key issue is maintaining our sovereign energy policy, ensuring the security of Hungary's energy infrastructure, and continuing the uninterrupted operation of transit routes," the minister concluded.

The Hungarian government repeatedly stated its opposition to the EU ban on oil and gas from Russia and confirmed its intention to continue purchasing energy in accordance with existing long-term contracts between companies in the two countries. In this regard, Hungary wants Ukraine to return Russian oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, which has been blocked by Kiev since January 27.