The expected termination of the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine will not affect Hungary, since supplies to this country today are carried out mainly through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on October 8 in Budapest.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, at a press conference following a meeting of the Hungarian-Serbian joint economic committee, Minister Szijjarto told reporters that the likely termination of natural gas supplies through Ukraine would not affect Hungary, since at one time Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey made an "extremely bold decision" to build a gas pipeline."Turkish Stream".
"And those who took part in the construction, preparation and were there when we started construction know exactly what threats we faced from our allies. They remember how our allies tried to talk us out of it. Who is softer, and who threatened," he said.
"If we hadn't been brave enough, we would have been in a lot of trouble today. If we had not built the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, today Hungary could guarantee the security of its natural gas supplies with great difficulty, or rather not at all," he added.
Then the Hungarian Minister stressed that today natural gas supplies to Hungary are mainly provided through this pipeline, and this year more than 5.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been delivered to Hungary via this route.
"Therefore, we don't care, it doesn't concern us what Russians and Ukrainians get or what they don't get in terms of gas transit. There are Central European countries for which this is a problem. In recent years, we have invested a lot in Hungary's gas transportation infrastructure, and, of course, we can help those we can," the Hungarian minister said.
Peter Szijjarto warned of the danger of Ukraine's possible accession to NATO. According to him, the entry of this country into the Alliance will provoke the outbreak of the Third World War because of the article on the collective defense of NATO.
"I think that anyone who is thinking sensibly does not want to create this danger. Thus, Hungary's position is clear: Ukraine has no opportunity to join NATO," he stressed.
"I want to disappoint the idealists. The fact is that when we talk behind closed doors with the foreign ministers of NATO member states or we talk in private, the overwhelming majority of foreign ministers of NATO member states adhere to this position," Minister Szijjarto said.
"I think it is extremely unfair to Ukrainians how a significant part of NATO member countries behave. They don't tell them honestly what they think about it and what position they take," he added.
He then compared this to the enlargement of the European Union, saying that some also believe that Serbia should join, but with a more detailed description, they report why this is not possible.
"I think this is a very unfair practice," Szijjarto said.
In conclusion, the Hungarian Minister said that only ten member States voted against and twelve abstained on the issue of tariffs. EU on Chinese electric vehicles.
"If someone gives the impression that the majority supports this proposal, he either considers the European community as a whole stupid, or expresses a rather destructive opinion about European democracy, or even wants to destroy European competitiveness," the Hungarian minister summed up.