FM: Era of dangers has made ties between Hungary and Serbia even more important
'Brussels is no longer afraid to use increasingly harsh methods in the area, as it is clear that there are attempts orchestrated from abroad to replace the governments in central and eastern European countries with a sovereigntist leadership,' Minister Szijjártó told a joint press conference with Serbian counterpart Marko Djuric in Szeged, in southern Hungary, on Monday.
'And the governments of Hungary and Serbia put national sovereignty and interests first…' the foreign minister said. 'In a situation like this, cooperation between Hungary and Serbia is made even more important.'
'There are also plans in Brussels to push through the Zelensky plan which would put both Hungary and Serbia's secure and cheap energy supply in jeopardy,' he said.
'And this requires that Hungary and Serbia further intensify their energy cooperation,' Minister Szijjártó said, adding that neither country was willing to give up their supplies of cheap Russian natural gas and crude.
Hungary receives more than a daily 21 million cubic metres of gas through the TurkStream pipeline via Serbia, Minister Szijjártó said, adding that the neighbouring country has started storing around a daily one million cubic metres of gas in Hungarian facilities in preparation for the heating season.
Minister Szijjártó said he and Djuric reviewed progress made on the construction of the new oil pipeline whose annual capacity will be five million tonnes, and is set to contribute significantly to the region's energy security.
Meanwhile, the minister expressed criticism of the 'Zelensky plan', which he said Brussels wanted to use to support Ukraine 'while ruining the security of central Europe's energy supply and increasing utility prices in the region several times over'.
'This is scandalous and unacceptable, and we'll fight against the Zelensky plan in Brussels until the end,' Minister Szijjártó said.
Concerning European Union enlargement, Minister Szijjártó noted that Serbia submitted its bid to join the bloc 16 years ago, and the European Commission has been proposing the opening of new accession chapters for four years now, but member states have yet to approve it.
'We won't approve the start of accession talks with Ukraine, for which we are smeared,' he said. 'Interestingly enough, the member states blocking the talks with Serbia don't have to deal with such things. This is a clear example of double standards.'
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