BUDAPEST: Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Wednesday discussed Hungarian-US political ties and energy cooperation in Washington, DC.
Szijjártó told MTI that on Wednesday he met Joseph Andrew, the global chairman of law firm Dentons, to discuss political ties and Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s top official for energy affairs, for talks on energy cooperation.
The minister said central Europe’s energy security was still unsettled, which he said posed serious security risks for the region. This makes energy cooperation between Hungary and the US all the more important, he added. Hungary’s main issue is finding new gas supply routes and this is where help from the US is of key importance, Szijjártó said. The minister said the construction of the LNG terminal in Croatia would be Hungary’s preferred scenario, adding that the Croatian government was starting to admit that it would be an economical solution.
US investors have also shown interest in the project. Hungary believes the construction of the terminal would be feasible by four-way cooperation between Croatia, Hungary, the US and the European Union. Another possible gas supply route would be the corridor connecting Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, Szijjártó said, adding, however, that this would still require the construction of interconnection points on the Greek-Bulgarian and Bulgarian-Romanian borders.
The minister touched on the issue of the Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines. He said it was “insulting” towards Hungary that the EU applied “double standards” in the matter by pushing to drop plans to build the South Stream pipeline, through which Hungary would have imported Russian gas. Szijjártó argued that the Nord Stream that supplies Russian gas to Germany, had “the exact same” parameters as the southern corridor. Regarding political relations between Hungary and the US, Szijjártó said they were not as smooth as economic ties, adding, at the same time, that the Hungarian government is always honest with the US. The minister is scheduled to hold talks with business leaders.
