“Gas could begin arriving in Hungary from the direction of Serbia in October 2021, perhaps in larger quantities than originally planned”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in Budapest on Thursday after receiving Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antić.

Mr. Szijjártó said Hungary will be happy to undertake extra development projects if gas shipment companies announce an annual demand exceeding 6 billion cubic metres. “The construction of the stretch of pipeline from the border to the Hungarian domestic natural gas network is also in preparation, and the interconnection agreement could soon be concluded with the Serbian party”, he added.
According to the Minister, Serbia and Hungary regard it as their mutual goal to establish a regional electricity exchange in the interests of making the region’s electricity supply more predictable. “Within the framework of this cooperation, the interconnection capacities of the Hungarian and Serbian networks will be doubled, meaning that the exchange of electricity between the two countries will be increasing by 100 percent. The excess electricity generated by the new blocks of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant could find its way to Serbia, while Hungary can also count on capacities from Serbia’s hydroelectric power plants”, he explained.
Mr. Szijjártó justified the need to develop energy links with energy security and national strategy aspects, explaining that Serbia has also recognised the advantages of cooperation and has always been open to Hungarian initiatives within this field. “The governments of the two countries have been working for years to ensure the development of a North-South energy corridor in Central Europe”, he stated. “An expansion of transport routes reduces the vulnerability of both Hungary and the whole region, but this requires that we work together with the countries around us”, he added.
Aleksandar Antić welcomed the fact that cooperation between the two countries also extends to energy projects. According to the Minister, it is advantageous to both parties for their electricity networks to reinforce each other, adding that he sees an opportunity for other states to also join the cooperation. Mr. Antić said he also has high expectations with relation to the regional electricity exchange being established in Hungarian-Serbian cooperation, because in his opinion the initiative could provide favourable conditions for the whole region on the international energy market.
The Serbian minister said that in his evaluation bilateral economic cooperation is just as excellent as the political relations between the two countries, explaining that in his opinion the joint projects and high-level meetings all indicate that Serbia and Hungary have established a strategic partnership through major effort in recent years, and this has laid the foundations for further regional cooperation projects.

In reply to a question from Hungarian news agency MTI, Mr. Szijjártó declared that the EU needs Serbia, and said Hungary is affording national strategic significance to the European Union accession of its southern neighbour. This was one of the reasons why he welcomed the fact that European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy Olivér Várhelyi has had Brussels adopt a methodology that could accelerate Serbia’s EU integration, he explained. “The community cannot sit idly by; it must begin the next rounds of negotiations with Serbia”, he added.

Aleksandar Antić thanked Hungary for its support, emphasising that Serbia also regards the acquisition of European Union membership as a national interest. “Accordingly, Serbia cannot turn away from the integration process; its accession cannot be hindered by domestic political considerations”, he stated.

Prior to the joint press conference, the President and CEO of MVM Hungarian Electricity Works Zrt. signed a memorandum of understanding with the head of Serbia’s state gas service provider Srbijagas.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)