Hungary is open to diversifying its energy supply but will not replace existing cheap and reliable sources with more expensive and less dependable alternatives, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday in Washington.
Speaking at the Transatlantic Natural Gas Cooperation Summit, Szijjártó said the Hungarian government approaches energy policy differently from what he described as the European mainstream, treating energy security as a practical matter shaped by physical realities rather than ideology.
He pointed out that Hungary is a landlocked country and therefore its energy supply is strongly influenced by geography and the available infrastructure. According to the minister, natural gas can only be purchased from locations connected to Hungary through pipelines, and the availability of those pipelines depends on neighbouring countries and their own infrastructure investments.
Hungary has already linked its gas network with six of its seven neighbours, he said, but warned that if surrounding countries fail to develop the necessary infrastructure, it could create challenges for supply.
Szijjártó welcomed remarks by Marco Rubio that energy policy should take geographical realities into account, saying such views are rarely heard in Europe. He also praised a previous decision by Donald Trump to grant Hungary an exemption from sanctions affecting the Russian energy sector, which he said helped avoid a supply crisis.
The minister stressed that diversification should mean bringing additional sources and routes into the system rather than excluding existing ones. He added that Hungary would not replace affordable and reliable energy supplies with more expensive or less secure alternatives.
As an example, Szijjártó referred to the Vertical Corridor project, which Hungary supports as part of efforts to broaden supply routes. However, he said the corridor’s current capacity is insufficient to fully supply Hungary and that gas delivered along that route is about 20 per cent more expensive than gas arriving through other routes, including the TurkStream pipeline.
He also noted that shipments of Turkish natural gas to Hungary have already begun, making Hungary the first non-neighbouring country to receive such exports from Türkiye. In addition, deliveries of Azerbaijani gas have started.
According to the minister, Hungary has signed long-term gas purchase agreements with US energy companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips, and is also in talks with Romania about future gas imports.
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