Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó held negotiations with Commission Vice-President responsible for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn on Tuesday in Brussels.
He consulted with Commissioner Hahn primarily on the Ukraine crisis and on issues relating to the Western Balkans enlargement. Mr. Szijjártó said that it is in Hungary’s fundamental interests that Ukraine should have a stable economy, so Hungary is backing the provision of financial support to Kiev by the European Union, while also emphasising the need for structural reforms in Ukraine.
“We consider it important to emphasise that without the implementation of structural reforms anyone can give any amount of credit to Ukraine, but financing alone will not make it a strong and stable country”, Mr. Szijjártó underlined. The Minister also noted that Ukraine’s stability is also in the economic interests of both Hungary and of the whole European Union, pointing out that exports to Ukraine from Hungary and the EU decreased by 13 percent and 28 percent, respectively, in the first ten months of 2014.
Concerning the EU enlargement, the Hungarian Minister said that Hungary is backing the enlargement and that the countries of the Western Balkans should be able to move forward along the path towards European integration as quickly as possible. The progress achieved by Serbia and Macedonia must be acknowledged, he said. Mr. Szijjártó also expressed his disappointment that Macedonia has been unable to begin accession negotiations since 2005.
At the meeting with Maroš Šefčovič, the Hungarian Minister declared that the loss of the South Stream project poses a serious problem for the region, so Hungary would prefer it if the Commission made clear which projects it can support in the interests of improving energy security.
Péter Szijjártó said that Vice-President Šefčovič will meet with representatives of the countries affected by the abortion of the South Stream project on 9 February in Sofia. The Minister also said that he will pay a visit to Ankara soon to discuss how Turkey imagines its own role in the energy supply of Central and Southern Europe.
According to Mr. Szijjártó, the improvement of EU competitiveness requires that energy suppliers should compete in the race to determine who sells energy carriers to Europe, and for this reason no suppliers should be excluded because this is what guarantees the security of energy supply and downward pressure on prices. "The energy security of Central Europe is a European issue and is therefore also a European responsibility”, the Minister stressed.
Péter Szijjártó also explained that Hungary is ready to participate in these projects: the Hungarian infrastructure, the gas storage capacities and the connecting points have been completed, but Romania and Croatia are yet to make the direction of gas transmission reversible. “We will be pleased with any solution that brings diversification both in terms of sources and routes”, Minister Szijjártó reaffirmed.