Speaking at the energy ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), FM Szijjártó stressed that the world is living through an era of crises in which the secure supply of energy has become uncertain for many countries. He emphasized that the greatest challenge today is the politicization and ideologization of energy policy.
He said these trends have led to harmful decisions globally, including the undermining of certain energy sources and transit routes, interference in sovereign national energy policies, and discrimination against specific forms of energy production.
Minister Szijjártó praised the Turkic states for what he called a pragmatic, physics-based approach to energy, contrasting it with the European Union, which he accused of taking a harmful ideological stance.
He criticized the fact that the EU is scheduled to vote this week on the RePowerEU regulation banning Russian energy imports — a measure Hungary will challenge before the European Court of Justice, although he said he does not expect a fair proceeding there.
He described the regulation as a legal fraud and said its underlying arguments are “nonsense,” insisting that it would not promote diversification but instead cause steep price increases and create monopoly situations.
“We will fight this decision because it would severely damage energy security. How could I explain at home that we should replace a cheap and reliable energy source with one that is more expensive and less reliable?” he said.
He stated that Hungary’s energy imports account for just 0.2 percent of Russia’s GDP, rejecting accusations that Hungary is “funding the Russian war machine.”
FM Szijjártó emphasized the growing importance of external partnerships for energy cooperation in the current fragile situation, noting that ties with Turkic states are particularly valuable.
He warned that what he called Europe’s “mad energy policy” threatens global security and energy stability, as Brussels’ measures undermining national sovereignty could inspire similar interference elsewhere.
“And this European attitude endangers global security: consider that EU leaders have praised physical attacks against energy infrastructure,” he said.
He pointed to Ukrainian strikes against the Druzhba oil pipeline — which, he noted, harmed Hungary and Slovakia rather than Russia — and criticized European politicians for applauding such actions. He also condemned comments praising the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, calling them among the most irresponsible statements made by European officials in recent years.
“This is effectively the glorification of state-sponsored terrorism, which is absolutely unacceptable,” he added, also denouncing recent attacks on tanker ships in the Black Sea.
Regarding nuclear energy, the minister said it continues to face ideological attacks within the EU, and that Hungary will fight to protect it, arguing that nuclear power is the only reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable way to meet rising demand for electricity.