The foreign minister said Ukraine’s “communications campaign of provocative lies” about Hungary’s energy acquisitions has ended in a “disgraceful failure” since the European Union made it clear that Hungary’s long-term gas purchase deal with Russia is fully in line with the law.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Facebook during the break of a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, that High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell had clearly stated that Hungary had the right to sign such a contract and there is no room for complaint. Borrell has also communicated his position to Kiev, stressing that Hungary acted lawfully when it signed the contract, he added.
The minister said Ukraine has pursued “an intense and hostile communications campaign and political campaign involving provocative lies against Hungary”. Despite being a non-EU country, Ukraine has submitted a complaint against an EU country to the European Commission, he added. “Ukraine wanted to thwart secure energy supplies to Hungary,” he said. “It has severely interfered in our domestic affairs and took international steps that violated our sovereignty.”
Minister Szijjártó said Hungary’s energy supplies are a matter of sovereignty and Hungary has the right to sign contracts that guarantee energy supplies with any country it wants to. Hungary most resolutely rejects Ukraine’s hostile communications and political campaign which questions Hungary’s sovereignty and presents Hungary in a bad light, he added. He noted that both last year and this year, most of the gas purchased in Europe arrived in Ukraine through Hungary. Taking this into consideration, it would be “unacceptable” of Kiev to introduce any restrictions on the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia, he added. The significance of the Hungary-Russia gas deal is made clear under the current high energy prices, Minister Szijjártó said. The contract enables Hungary to purchase gas at a good price and to secure long-term supplies, he added.