“The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijarto, accused Ukraine of having put the European Union in a difficult economic situation by stopping the transit of Russian gas. Source: “European Truth”, Sijarto on Facebook Details: As the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated, “even the most fanatical Brussels people” cannot deny that the competitiveness of the European Union has recently “deteriorated sharply”.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European Truth”, Sijarto on Facebook
Details: As the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry stated, “even the most fanatical Brussels people” cannot deny that the competitiveness of the European Union has recently “sharply deteriorated”.
Advertising:
He claims: one of the main reasons for this is that “gas prices in Europe have become much higher than those of our competitors.”
“The increase in European natural gas prices was mainly caused by measures that artificially reduce its quantity, such as the elimination of some sources of natural gas due to sanctions or policies, as well as the blocking of certain transport routes,” the Hungarian said.
At the same time, Szijjarto noted that Hungary has diversified its sources of gas, therefore the increase in the price of energy carriers in Europe will not have a great impact on the country.
He blamed Ukraine for the fact that the recent suspension of transit of Russian natural gas to Central Europe had caused prices to rise.
“Since the suspension of the Ukrainian transit route became final in mid-December, the price of natural gas on the European market has increased by 20%. Thus, although Ukraine is trying to join the EU as a candidate, with its latest decision it has once again put the European economy in a difficult situation. This is especially true of Central Europe,” he wrote.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary said that he met with his Slovak colleague Juraj Blanar to “analyze the situation” that developed after the cessation of transit of Russian gas.
“We agreed that the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine should be respected by both sides, and this agreement also provides for the preservation of energy transportation routes,” Sijarto added.
At the same time, as reported on January 6, the European Commission did not record sharp jumps in gas prices in the European Union after Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas to the EU territory.
As you know, the contract between Ukraine and Russia for gas transit to Europe expired at the end of 2024 after the Ukrainian side decided not to renew it.
After that, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, sharply criticized Kyiv for these actions and wrote a letter to the EU leaders expressing dissatisfaction with the actions of the Ukrainian side.
On Thursday, January 9, he will go to Brussels for negotiations with the European Commission regarding the situation with the termination of gas transit through Ukraine.