Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, it has been announced.
Following the successful meeting, the prime minister said Hungary appreciates its relations with Russia and both countries “have an interest in maximizing shared achievements”.
PM Orbán said it is in Hungary’s national interest that “there should be good cooperation between the two halves of Europe,” including constructive ties between Hungary and Russia.
During a joint press conference with Putin, the prime minister touched on the subject of energy cooperation and said that he had made an agreement with Putin on gas supplies from Russia after 2020.
PM Orbán noted that Hungary would like to see the Turkish Stream gas pipeline going through Hungary, and asked Putin to support those plans.
Regarding the Paks nuclear upgrade, PM Orbán said that the project was being implemented in a timely manner and necessary adjustments were being made. The prime minister revealed that 35-40 percent of Hungary’s electricity was produced by the Paks plant, and next to solar energy, nuclear energy should retain a dominant role in the country’s electric supplies in the long run.
The prime minister noted that although the project was pushing forward, there have been “difficulties and technical issues” in the implementation of the project, and referred to “the bureaucratic practices of the European Union so far unknown to Russia,” but voiced confidence and said that “we will make it (the upgrade project) and this will benefit not only Hungary-Russia ties but it will also modernize energy policy links between Russia and Europe.”