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Forthcoming Putin visit "vital" to Hungary: FM

Xinhua, February 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

From the point of view of energy security, the forthcoming Feb. 17 visit to Hungary by Russian President Vladimir Putin could be vital, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told local wire service MTI on Saturday.

Russia will continue to play a key role in supplying energy to Central Europe in the years to come, which makes it inconceivable to avoid regular consultations with Russia, he said.

The minister also pointed out that Russia was Hungary's third biggest trading partner and the decline in trade, which was triggered by European Union (EU) sanctions and Russian counter-measures, had seriously affected the country's economy.

One topic on the agenda during Putin's visit will therefore have to be how to liven up bilateral cooperation, Szijjarto added.

He also pointed out that the long-term agreement between Hungary and Russia on gas deliveries was expiring this year.

Given that the lion's share of the gas used in Hungary came from Russia, this matter had to be resolved in a satisfactory manner and that makes the forthcoming visit vital to Hungarian energy security, he said.

Szijjarto also noted that while Russia and Turkey were negotiating a South Stream replacement pipeline running through Turkey, no agreement between them had been reached. Also up in the air are pricing, route issues, and financing, he said.

He then raised the issue of EU financing for parts of the project.

"We know what projects it has not supported regarding energy to Central Europe, so now it would be nice to know the types it will assist with," he said. He underlined that Central European energy security was an EU-wide concern and that an EU role in financing was absolutely necessary.

On the conflict in Ukraine, Szijjarto said the topic was sure to come up. Hungary's position calls for a peaceful negotiated settlement, given that Ukraine is its neighbor, that 150,000 ethnic Hungarians lived in Ukraine, and that Russian gas had to travel through Ukraine to get to Hungary.

Szijjarto also rejected rumors of Hungary's political isolation, saying that so far this month high-ranking visitors to Budapest had included the German chancellor, the Georgian prime minister, and the foreign ministers of Serbia, Poland, and Montenegro.

Still to come are the Russian president and the Turkish prime minister, he added. Endit