Szijjártó told them that Putin and Orbán had struck a major agreement in favour of Hungary’s energy security. Central European energy security is an all-European issue and responsibility. Hungary’s ability to access untapped gas under its expiring contract from 2016 is a favourable development for the entire EU, he said.

Orbán made it clear to the Russian president that Hungary would find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict the only acceptable one, Szijjártó said, adding that reasonable cooperation is needed with Russia to secure Europe’s competitiveness and energy security.

The minister also informed his Turkish, Macedonian and Serbian counterparts about Putin’s visit.

He told Mevlüt Cavusoglu, Nikola Popovszki and Ivica Dacic that the plan to supply Russian gas via Turkey to central Europe had featured high on the agenda of talks.

Now that the South Stream project has been cancelled, the central European nations need to look for new routes of gas supply, one option being a pipeline via Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

The ministers are making joint preparations for the project, the ministry said.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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MTI photo: Koszticsák Szilárd

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