Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjartó and Bulgarian Energy Minister Rossen Hristov discussed how to improve regional energy security in Budapest.
The Hungarian minister underlined that energy connectivity was a regional interest also supported by the European Union. Without such alternatives, Hungary shouldn’t be expected to diversify its energy mix, he said. He noted that Hungary is counting on Azerbaijan gas supplies as the most important alternative and capacity expansion in the Balkans is key in this project.
The Bulgarian minister agreed on the importance of investments in energy diversification and called on the EU to contribute to the project to transport Azeri gas to Europe.
Bulgaria and Hungary also have similar interests in nuclear energy. The two Ministers underlined that their countries would not support sanctions on nuclear energy, which they both see as key to green transition.
“Without nuclear energy, it is inconceivable to achieve the decarbonisation goals,” said Mr Hristov noting that Bulgaria has achieved diversification of nuclear fuel as the country currently has three active contracts – with American Westinghouse, French Framatome and Russian Tvel, the latter to be replaced in the coming years.
The Hungarian minister praised Bulgaria as a reliable partner in energy transport. “Bulgaria has shown itself as a fair and predictable partner – especially in the energy sector,” he said expressing his gratitude to his Bulgarian counterpart regarding the energy supplies passing through Bulgaria.
“We accept our role as a transit country as a great responsibility for the energy security of the countries of Southeast and Central Europe. This is the reason why in recent months we have proposed several initiatives related to increasing the capacity of both the gas and electricity transmission networks so that we can be a guarantor of stability in the region,” underlined the Bulgarian minister.
