“Central Europe is on the front lines with regard to the issue of energy security, in view of the fact that it is strongly dependent on a single supply source because of missing infrastructure, and the southern energy blockade, which is disadvantageous to Hungary, refuses to be resolved”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Thursday when he presented the Knight's Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit to the U.S. State Department’s former Special Envoy for International Energy Affairs Amos J. Hochstein.
At the event in Budapest, Mr. Szijjártó added: “interestingly”, the American have so far been Hungary’s strongest allies with regard to fulfilling EU requirements.
“Amos Hochstein has done much to enable the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to finally conform to their international obligations, which is not just a question of energy security, but also one of national security”, he explained.
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“The European Union ‘killed off’ the South Stream gas pipeline initiative and has done nothing to force Romania and Croatia to enable the transport of natural gas to Hungary”, he added.
Mr. Szijjártó added that the Government had asked the former Special Envoy, who is now active in the private sector, to continue to assist Hungary in energy matters. According to Mr. Hochstein, the solution is within arm’s reach, and the issue is inseparable from Hungary’s security and the region’s economic viability, and accordingly finding the solution is in everyone’s interests. He also said that energy security was one of the last issues that had not been successfully tackled within the European Union, and is a question that still divides member states. Solving the problem requires attention, commitment, interest and creative ideas, which in his opinion do exist in the countries involved. Mr. Hochstein stressed that he believes that while working in cooperation with the Hungarian Government the final goal of assuring energy security for Hungary and the region can be reached.
(MTI)
