"Secure supply of the country": Russia supplies Hungary with more gas

In July, Hungary's foreign minister is negotiating additional natural gas supplies in Moscow.

"Secure supply of the country": Russia supplies Hungary with more gas

In July, Hungary's foreign minister is negotiating additional natural gas supplies in Moscow. Now Gazprom delivers through the TurkStream pipeline. The move is justified by the "duty of the Hungarian government to ensure the country's secure supply of natural gas".

According to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Russia has started additional gas deliveries to the EU member country. After negotiations between Moscow and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto last month, the Russian company Gazprom began supplying more gas on Friday than "already contractually agreed," ministry representative Tamas Menczer said on Facebook.

According to him, by the end of August, an additional 2.6 million cubic meters per day will come to Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline. Menczer explained that further deliveries in September are still being negotiated. He emphasized that it is "the duty of the Hungarian government to ensure the country's secure supply of natural gas".

Foreign Minister Szijjarto made an unannounced visit to Moscow in July to discuss the purchase of an additional 700 million cubic meters of gas. The acquisition of such large quantities of gas is "impossible" given the current "European market conditions" without Russian sources, Menczer explained.

In reaction to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the EU imposed drastic sanctions on Moscow. These include a far-reaching embargo on Russian oil. But there is no such measure for gas. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has - to the displeasure of Brussels - criticized the jointly agreed sanctions as harmful to Europe.

A gas emergency plan has been in force within the EU since Tuesday to deal with the energy crisis triggered by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The regulation provides for voluntary natural gas savings in the winter of 15 percent per country, but it allows numerous exceptions for states. Hungary is one of the countries that had requested an exception. The country is particularly dependent on Russian energy imports.