Foreign minister: Stable, fair cooperation between Hungary, Russia national interest

The ministry cited Peter Szijjarto as saying after a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Skopje that the government rejected all forms of pressure aimed to force Hungary to stop all cooperation with Russia.

“We pursue foreign policy on the basis of national interests and will not accept any pressurising from the outside, therefore we will cooperate with Russia in securing Hungary’s energy supply in the upcoming period just like before,” he added.

He welcomed the progress of the expansion project at the Paks nuclear power station, saying that the construction of 2.7 kms of a slurry wall had been completed at record speed, making it possible to continue with ground works.

“It remains a realistic goal to hold the so-called first concrete pouring ceremony next year and the new blocks … could be connected to the system in the early 2030s,” he added.

He said Lavrov had assured him that Russia and Russian companies would fulfill their contractual obligations and supply natural gas and crude oil according to schedule.

“As a result, Hungary’s natural gas supplies will remain to be guaranteed, despite Bulgarians imposing extra tax on natural gas delivered to Hungary, Serbia and North Macedonia via Bulgaria,” he said.

The minister also said that he had told his Russian counterpart that Hungary would continue to support peace in Ukraine.

“It is important to us that arms should not be fired in our region but peace talks should be started … in every international organisation Hungary stands up for keeping the channels of communication open, and for ceasefire and the start of peace talks as soon as possible,” he said.