BUDAPEST, April 13. /TASS/. Hungary’s new government will be ready for pragmatic cooperation with Russia, Peter Magyar, the leader of the Tisza party that won the April 12 parliamentary elections, said.

TASS has summed up his key statements.

Russian-Hungarian relations

Magyar said that the new Hungarian government will be ready for pragmatic cooperation with Russia: "I also saw that Moscow and the Kremlin, as well as Beijing, have made statements about this. I thank them for agreeing to respect the choice of Hungarian voters and the Hungarian people and for their willingness to engage in pragmatic cooperation, which Hungary is also ready for, because geography is geography."

He also said he hopes that relations between Hungary and Russia "will change in the right direction in the near future."

Situation around Russian energy sources

Magyar said that the termination of Russian oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline threatens Hungary’s energy supplies: "We will always be trying to buy oil at a maximally low price and with maximal reliability. But, look at the Druzhba oil pipeline. What has happened threatens Hungary’s energy supplies."

According to him, Budapest will be seeking pragmatic relations with Moscow because it is "in a vulnerable position from the point of view of energy supplies from Russia."

Magyar said that he wants to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin the terms and the price of current agreements between Hungary and Russia in the energy sector, including in respect of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant: "I could ask him to improve the financial terms."

According to Magyar, the cost of the Paks-2 NPP’s construction is extremely overstated by Rosatom: "The expansion of the nuclear power plant in Paks is also taking place at an extremely overstated price. I can tell you we will review every contract, revise it if necessary, and even cancel it if required."

He also called on the European Union to immediately lift its anti-Russian sanctions after the Ukrainian conflict is resolved: "We do hope that the negotiations will produce a result, and after that the European sanctions will be lifted."

In his words, anti-Russian sanctions caused energy prices to spike, and "Europe is not interested in buying raw materials at bloated prices," because "it only damages Europe’s competitiveness."

Hungary’s foreign policy

He pledged that Hungary’s new government will not interfere in the affairs of other countries and expects the same treatment in return: "I ask all foreign states to treat Hungary with the same respect with which it treats them. We must respect other sovereign states. Unlike in the past, I will not interfere in the internal affairs of any other country, not even those in the Balkans."

Russia’s reaction to Magyar’s statements

Moscow is ready to develop relations with Hungary’s new government, depending on how it understands its national interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Vesti.

"We’d rather look at concrete deeds," he said.

There are currently no contacts with Magyar in Putin’s schedule, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

In its relations with Hungary’s new government, Russia will proceed from the fact that the two countries have a range of joint projects that require joint work and dialogue, Peskov told Vesti.