Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, along with other members of the Hungarian government, have made clear their frustration at Ukraine’s decision to block Russian gas supplies. At the beginning of July, Ukraine shut down Russia’s Druzhba pipeline, which transports gas to Hungary and Slovakia through Ukraine. Despite filing official complaints with the European Commission to demand Ukraine allow the sale of gas, the situation has remained at a deadlock, and fall is approaching.
On Friday, Szijjártó traveled to Russia to meet with the CEO of Gazprom, Alexey Miller. On a post on his Facebook page Friday, Szijjártó wrote: “Hungary’s energy security cannot be guaranteed without Russian gas. This is not a matter of ideology, it is a matter of physics and math. It takes some courage in Europe to say it today, but Hungary is satisfied with Russian energy cooperation, which is one of the guarantees of the country’s food security. In just one month, on October 1, the new gas year and heating season will begin. Our responsibility is now clear: to ensure the heating of Hungarian homes.”