Speaking at the Atomexpo forum in Sochi, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said sanctions must not be allowed to curb the security of Hungary's energy supply.
The foreign minister told the forum that determining the country’s energy mix is a national competence and a fundamental principle of Hungary’s energy strategy. Another principle is enabling investments needed to ensure energy security, he said, adding this meant that in the absence of resources of its own, Hungary had opted to expand nuclear capacities. Any measure that would hamper this would be an attack on Hungary’s national sovereignty, he said. Minister Szijjártó mentioned energy diversification as another important goal. He added, however, that there was a disagreement as to the definition of diversification, which Hungary believed meant having as many energy sources available as possible rather than the exclusion of certain sources. Also, the government considers carbon neutrality a practical issue rather than an ideological one, the minister said, insisting that certain European political movements had “expropriated” the matter which he said should primarily be about environmental protection.