Hungary will oppose EU's rejection of Russian energy resources until very end - foreign minister

MOSCOW. Oct 15 (Interfax) - Hungary categorically does not support the REPowerEU initiative (the European Union's plan for a phased rejection of Russian fossil fuel imports from 2028), Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week forum.

"We will oppose the so-called REPowerEU package until the very end. We will do everything possible next week at the meeting of the EU Council of Energy Ministers on Monday. And there I will clearly state that what they call diversification, in the case of Hungary, would mean unilateral dependence," Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto gave an example of this by speaking about oil imports. Currently, the country receives these via two oil pipelines: the larger part comes via Druzhba from Russia, the smaller part via the Adriatic pipeline, controlled by Croatia's JANAF.

"Shutting down the Druzhba pipeline would mean that currently we have two pipelines in Hungary, but then there would be one. That is something completely different. It puts us in an absolutely dependent position, which we do not want," Szijjarto said.

During his visit to Russia, Szijjarto plans to hold negotiations with Deputy Prime Ministers Alexander Novak and Denis Manturov, as well as with the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, and the chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, Alexei Miller.

Szijjarto and Miller discussed current issues of cooperation in the gas sector during a working meeting. "It was noted that Gazprom is a long-standing and reliable partner of Hungary. Russian gas supplies contribute to the country's energy security," Gazprom said in a statement.

Previously, the Slovakian authorities openly opposed the adoption of the REPowerEU plan.