In regard to gas deliveries to Hungary, the foreign minister said most of the gas flows would be shifted to the southern delivery route. Péter Szijjártó said Hungary imports roughly 30 million cubic meters of gas each day, more than half of which is delivered via the southern route passing through Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia, adding that the government has decided to increase Hungary’s gas imports beyond the volume specified in the country’s long-term gas purchase agreements. The extra gas will be stored in Hungary’s gas reservoirs for the heating season, he added.
Asked about migration pressure on the southern border, Minister Szijjártó said the Hungarian authorities have prevented some 114,000 people from crossing the border illegally so far this year, compared with less than 48,000 at this point in 2021. The migrants on the southern border are getting increasingly aggressive, Minister Szijjártó said, adding that they “are arming themselves and are using those weapons sometimes against each other and at other times to threaten the Hungarian police officers and soldiers protecting the border”. “This is unacceptable,” the minister said. “These people have no business being in Hungary. We won’t let them in regardless of how badly Brussels wants us to or how strongly the NGOs tied to [US financier George] Soros are pushing them onto us.” “We’re at the eleventh hour,” he said. “It’s time Brussels changed its migration policy.” Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said Hungary has so far taken in more than 833,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter