The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Thursday at a press conference in Budapest that progress has to be made in the region’s energy security because otherwise the region will face serious problems in terms of security and competitiveness.

Péter Szijjártó held a lecture in the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade at the international conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) on the energy security of Central and South Eastern Europe, and then declared that the interest of the region is to have competition in order to acquire energy carriers from as many sources and via as many routes as possible; we cannot exclude any source from the European competition. Therefore, "whatever we think about Russia’s role in the region from the point of view of energy”, it has, and will have an important role in energy supply.

Energy prices must be kept low to attract investments. Moreover, currently the price of crude oil has been declining in the world market, but our region cannot benefit from this because the required infrastructural facilities are missing, he continued.

He emphasised that according to the Hungarian standpoint, first infrastructure developments are needed, then regulatory issues may be placed on the agenda, and this order must be followed.

The Minister declared that it is a significant interest to build an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal in Croatia on Krk Island, to launch the operation of the interconnector between Hungary and Slovakia and to start two-way gas transmission towards Romania and Croatia. He also emphasised the importance of Azerbaijani gas as a real diversification for Central Europe, and to get the Russian gas transported to Turkey to the region. At the same time, it must be made sure that no project will have priority over the others, he added.

He announced that a consultation is planned for the beginning of April in Budapest between the Serbian, the Macedonian, the Greek and the Turkish Ministers to examine how to deliver the Russian gas transported to Turkey to Central Europe.

Péter Szijjártó noted that the fact that US Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos J. Hochstein also participated in the discussion clearly indicates that Hungary, the region and the United States are making joint efforts for the region’s energy security; energy issues have become an issue of national security and sovereignty, because the unilateral energy dependence of a region on one source of energy influences its safety and sovereignty.

Amos J. Hochstein emphasised at the press conference that Hungary has played an important, leading role in the efforts to ensure the region’s energy security in the past years. He confirmed that the United States is committed to the region’s energy security.

The US special envoy pointed out that it is important that the countries of the region also have to be committed to meet this challenge and take action as soon as possible. Although they do not agree on every detail of the major projects, they must focus on what they do agree on, and cooperation with the EU is needed for the solution, he said.

US Ambassador Colleen Bell said at the press conference that Hungary and the United States are making joint efforts for energy security, and the Thursday conference may also contribute to the success of this work.
Before the conference, Péter Szijjártó received the Deputy Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkan countries arriving for the conference at a working breakfast.

According to information provided by MFAT, the high-level representatives of Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Kosovo, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United States and the European Commission and the European External Action Service were invited to the conference. The event was organised with the aim of examining the opportunities that could help to improve the energy security of Central and South Eastern Europe and the diversification of energy sources.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)