Bulgaria assures Hungary of continued Russian gas transit

BRUSSELS. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Bulgaria has assured Hungary that it will continue to ensure the transit of Russian gas to Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday.

Szijjarto "said his Bulgarian counterpart assured him that Sofia will not put Hungary in a difficult situation, despite media reports on ending Russian gas transit in 2026," Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on social media.

"Bulgaria will remain a reliable transit partner for Hungary in gas supplies," Kovacs reported Szijjarto as saying.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said on Wednesday that Bulgaria, as "a member of the EU, we will join the decision to suspend, in the short term, in 2026, contracts for the use or transit of Russian natural gas, and in the long term, by 2028."

Kovacs said Zhelyazkov was commenting on an EU initiative that at this point "is only a proposal, no decision has been made yet."