Hungary has concluded the longest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement in its history with the French company ENGIE, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced in Budapest on Thursday. Under the contract between MVM CEEnergy and ENGIE Energy Marketing Singapore, Hungary will purchase 400 million cubic metres of LNG annually over a ten-year period from 2028 to 2038, totalling 4 billion cubic metres.

Szijjártó called the deal a milestone for Hungary’s energy security, describing ENGIE as a new, reliable partner in the country’s growing cooperation network. He underlined that the government is prepared to expand this long-term partnership further in the coming years.

The foreign minister emphasized that the world is living through an ‘age of crises’, with wars and political tensions often disrupting energy markets and supply routes. He noted that in recent years energy prices have risen to unprecedented levels and transport corridors once considered stable have become casualties of conflict. In his words, energy supply has become ‘completely politicized and ideologized’.

Szijjártó reiterated Hungary’s geographic limitations, reminding that as a landlocked country it can only access energy through pipelines via its neighbours. He pointed out that Hungary has invested hundreds of millions of euros to develop infrastructure, now connecting its gas network with six out of seven neighbouring states. Diversification, he said, should mean securing as many sources and routes as possible, not replacing existing reliable suppliers.

He stressed that energy security is also a matter of sovereignty. Decisions about where Hungary purchases its energy from must remain in national hands, he said, adding that Budapest rejects outside pressure, coercion, or what he described as ‘war premiums’ attached to energy.

The new agreement with ENGIE, the minister concluded, is a clear step toward strengthening Hungary’s independence and stability in energy supply for the decade ahead.

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