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Ukraine attempted drone strike on Russian gas supply to NATO states – Moscow

RT | January 13, 2025

Ukraine has launched an unsuccessful drone attack on Russian energy infrastructure which delivers natural gas to Türkiye , the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Monday.

The attempted sabotage took place on Saturday and involved nine kamikaze drones, which Ukrainian forces launched at the Russkaya gas compressor station near the village of Gaikodzor in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, according to a statement from the ministry.

The site is crucial for the operation of the TurkStream pipeline, which delivers natural gas from Russia to Türkiye under the Black Sea. Several nations in southern Europe, including EU member Hungary, use the Turkish route to receive supplies. Kiev’s attack was “aimed at stopping the supply of gas to European nations” through the neutral intermediary, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.

The Ukrainian attack against the Russkaya station was largely thwarted, the military added. One fixed-wing drone crashed close to a gas meter and caused minor damage, which was swiftly fixed by the facility’s personnel, it said. The incident caused no interruption in supplies, the statement stressed.

Kiev has refused to renew a transit contract with Russia which expired at the start of this year, and which had involved Russian gas being supplied to EU countries through Ukrainian territory. Slovakia, one of the nations affected by the decision, has accused Ukraine of causing an energy crisis.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has described Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky as someone who “roams Europe begging and blackmailing” Western nations in the hope of extracting more military assistance to fight Russia.

Zelensky previously accused Fico of striking “shady deals” with Moscow and of undermining the EU’s “unity” in the confrontation with Russia. He also claimed the Slovak secret services should investigate Fico for corruption.

The TurkStream pipeline was launched in January 2020 and has an annual capacity of 31.5 billion cubic meters. Its underwater section extends for around 930km, while the Russkaya station serves as the point of exit on Russian soil. One of the pipeline’s two strings serves Turkish customers, while the other leads to consumers in Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece. Russian officials have accused Kiev of attempts to sabotage the energy link on multiple occasions in recent years.

January 13, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hungary brands attempted strike on Russian gas pipeline an attack on its sovereignty

RT | January 13, 2025

Budapest considers any attempts to sabotage its energy supply as undermining its national sovereignty, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday, reacting to reports from Russia that Kiev had tried to disable the TurkStream pipeline with kamikaze drones.

According to the Russian military, Kiev used nine unmanned aircraft to target the Russkaya gas compressor station near the village of Gaikodzor in Russia’s Krasnodar Region last Saturday. The facility pumps natural gas under the Black Sea to Türkiye. Some of the fuel then goes to consumers in the EU.

The pipeline “is indispensable for the supply of natural gas” to Hungary and has been operating reliably for years, Szijjarto stated in a post on Facebook on Monday.

“We expect everyone to respect the safety and operability of this transport route,” he added.

Hungary’s relationship with Ukraine has become strained, as Budapest opposed Kiev’s demands for increasing military assistance in its conflict against Russia. The Hungarian government went against the predominant policy in the West, which called for Kiev to be supported for “as long as it takes” to defeat Moscow.

The approach has failed to alter the course of the Ukraine conflict, Budapest has pointed out. However, EU member states have inflicted economic damage on themselves by trying to punish Moscow with sanctions, as they lost access to the Russian market and the country’s raw materials.

Last year, Kiev refused to renew a multiyear contract with Russia, which allowed the transit of gas through its territory to Eastern Europe. Consumer nations criticized the decision, accusing the Ukrainian government of causing an energy crisis for its political goals.

“Ukraine is trying to join the EU as a candidate, it has once again put the European economy in a more difficult position with its latest decision,” Szijjarto said last week, commenting on the situation.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said it is willing to take Hungary’s place in the EU, accusing Budapest of “strengthening” Russia with its policies.

January 13, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Ukraine offers to replace Hungary in EU

RT | January 9, 2025

Ukraine is ready to take Hungary’s place in the European Union, the Foreign Ministry in Kiev said on Wednesday. Budapest recently blasted Ukraine for blocking the transit of natural gas from Russia to the European Union.

Earlier this week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Kiev of creating “artificially reduced supply,” emphasizing that its unilateral decision to stop the transit of Russian gas, coupled with EU sanctions, had sent prices soaring.

“If the Hungarian side prioritizes strengthening of Russia instead of the EU and the US, it should openly admit it,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Ukraine will be ready to fill any vacant seat in the EU and NATO, if Hungary decides to vacate it in favor of membership in the CIS or the CSTO.”

The CIS, short for the Commonwealth of Independent States, is a bloc uniting several post-Soviet countries. The CSTO, or Collective Security Treaty Organization, is a military alliance that currently includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Ukraine chose not to prolong a five-year transit contract with Russia’s Gazprom at the end of 2024, cutting off several EU member states from Russian gas supplies, including Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and Moldova. The halt immediately sent prices in the region soaring to more than €50 per megawatt hour, a level unseen since October 2023.

Hungary’s Szijjarto stated that the higher prices undermine the EU’s competitiveness and disproportionately burden citizens of the bloc. The minister further alleged that Ukraine had breached its EU Association Agreement by halting transit shipments.

Kiev’s decision has also been slammed by Slovakia, which relies on Russian pipelines for about 60% of its energy needs. Last week, Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok characterized the move as a “betrayal of trust” and a threat to energy stability in the region.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier this month that the US was the only beneficiary of the situation, charging that Washington is the “main sponsor of the Ukrainian crisis.”

Moscow was willing to prolong the transit contract and maintain gas shipments through Ukrainian territory beyond 2024. President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of “punishing” EU member states with its decision, predicting that it would result in higher energy prices. During his annual press conference on December 19, he said the halt would have minimal impact on Russia, however.

January 9, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Militarism, Russophobia | , , , | Leave a comment

Hungarian news portal calls Biden’s decision to sanction minister ‘a slap in the face’

Remix News | January 9, 2025

In the wake of the United States sanctioning Antal Rogán, the minister in charge of Prime Minister Orbán’s cabinet office, the Mandiner news portal assesses the case as highly unusual.

The official statement from the U.S. Treasury Department quotes Bradley T. Smith, the Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, as saying: “The United States will not hesitate to hold accountable individuals, like Rogan, who use the power of their office to illicitly enrich themselves and their cronies at the expense of their country and their fellow citizens.”

The justification does not contain specific cases, but writes about general corruption, referring to the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index. This index was prepared by Transparency International (TI), which receives support from organizations affiliated with the United States Department of State and George Soros, among others.

The sanctions action taken by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was based on Presidential Executive Order 13818, which implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The Magnitsky Act allows the United States to impose sanctions on individuals for either corruption or human rights abuses. As Human Rights First describes it, the U.S. Congress passed the original Magnitsky Act in 2012 in response to the death in custody of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax consultant who exposed a massive tax fraud scheme. The Magnitsky Act authorized the United States to impose sanctions on Russians involved in Magnitsky’s brutal detention and other human rights abuses against activists. Interestingly, the law does not define exactly what corruption means.

Between 2017 and 2023, the United States sanctioned 650 foreign individuals citing the law.

Even the soon-to-be-departing Pressman admitted that Antal Rogán’s sanctioning was unprecedented: “It is not common for the United States to designate a sitting minister.  Even less common to do so in an Allied country.”

How unprecedented the case is, is well illustrated by the company in which the Biden administration placed the Hungarian minister.

People are usually put on the sanctions list for very serious reasons. Former Afghan parliamentarian Ajmal Rahmani, for example, was sanctioned in 2023 for allegedly mismanaging U.S. government aid intended for the reconstruction of his war-torn country and then building an extensive business and real estate empire in Germany and Dubai.

Under the Trump administration, a European politician was sanctioned as well. In December 2019, the U.S. government sanctioned Latvian politician Aivars Lembergs for money laundering, embezzlement, bribery, and abuse of office. Four entities owned or controlled by Lembergs were also designated, including the Ventspils Freeport Authority, which operated a major international port.

In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against three Bulgarian individuals: former parliamentarian Delyan Peevski, prominent businessman Vasil Bozhkov, and former national security official Ilko Zhelyazkov. In addition, 64 entities allegedly associated with them were also sanctioned, Radio Free Europe reported.

Each of the cases mentioned above clearly shows that usually when someone is put on a sanctions list for corruption, their accomplices are also sanctioned, as well as the companies involved.

The Biden administration has a history of using the Justice Department and Democratic prosecutors against its own political opponents, so it is not surprising that it is using sanctions against the Hungarian government. The timing of the sanctions is also telling, as Joe Biden’s government will leave in two weeks, so this decision can be interpreted as a diplomatic slap in the face.

January 9, 2025 Posted by | Progressive Hypocrite | , , , | Leave a comment

EU does not benefit from Ukraine shutting down gas transit from Russia, says energy expert

Remix News | January 7, 2025

While the countries supporting sanctions and the European Commission welcome the Jan. 1 termination of Ukrainian gas transit due to the reduction in Russian gas purchases, those representing a more moderate position warn of the economic and social consequences, says energy market expert Olivér Hortay, president of the Századvég Economic Processes Research Institute, in an interview with Magyar Nemzet.

“The former argue that the halt in transit is a positive development, because the EU will no longer buy Russian gas on this route, and they also repeatedly state that the EU is prepared for the cessation of transit. In contrast, representatives of the more moderate position emphasize that the halt in Ukrainian transit will have harmful consequences for the entire European community,” Olivér Hortay said.

“The former group typically approaches the issue from the quantity side, and in this sense they are right that in the short term, the transit stoppage will not cause an acute supply problem. After all, the reserves of all EU member states, together with alternative procurement routes, make it possible to replace the missing quantity during this year’s heating season. It is true that there are challenges in the case of Slovakia and Austria, but the situation can also be solved there with the help of the relatively large amount of stored energy sources and alternative procurement,“ explained the energy market expert.

However, this does not mean that the EU is actually benefiting from the closure of Ukrainian gas transit taps. “On the first trading day of this year, European gas exchanges opened above last year’s highest price, which immediately showed how harmful the supply shortage is,” Hortay pointed out.

Moreover, the gas markets of the member states are highly interconnected, meaning that the negative consequences affect all countries. The states most affected will have to face additional disadvantages.

“(Slovak PM) Robert Fico previously said that the new sources of supply are much more expensive for Slovakia, simply because it will have to buy natural gas via a longer route, through more countries, and therefore at higher transit costs. According to Fico, the Ukrainian president’s move will increase costs for the entire European Union, as a result of which EU member states may face a total of €60 billion to €70 billion in additional expenses due to higher gas and electricity prices,” said the expert.

This is also due to competitiveness.

“The fact that the transit shutdown will cause economic difficulties for the European community is important because the EU’s most serious competitiveness problem, as stated in the Draghi report, is the high price of energy carriers. Today, European companies pay four to five times as much for natural gas as Americans. This disadvantage could only be overcome if much more gas than currently arrives comes into the region, so that the expansion of supply would depress prices,” Hortay continued.

Speaking about the longer-term prospects regarding how the affected countries will make up for the lost volumes, Hortay said that Austria will probably increase its purchases from the West and may deplete its stored gas reserves at a faster rate, and Slovakia may also do this. From Hungary’s perspective, however, the unfavorable situation may present an opportunity in that the loss of Ukrainian transit may accelerate the trend that has been developing for several years whereby Hungary shifts to the role of a regional gas distributor.

In recent years, Hungary has shifted its Russian gas purchases from the Ukrainian direction to the south, built its trade relations with other eastern partners, and built and developed its cross-border capacities, thus becoming a gateway for gas coming from the East.

This is beneficial for Hungary for two reasons. On the one hand, due to transit revenues, Ukraine, for example, loses over $1 billion a year by closing its gas taps, and on the other hand, its geopolitical position is strengthened: the energy supply of neighboring countries will depend on energy shipments passing through Hungary.

This role previously belonged to Austria, but if the Ukrainian transit still does not start, Austria may lose this position permanently, according to the expert.

Olivér Hortay also recalled that Hungary sold a record amount of natural gas to Slovakia last year, and in contrast to the situation a few years ago, gas typically flowed eastward on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. Capacities in the northern direction have been increased with various technical solutions in the recent period, and the really big question going forward will be whether the capacity of the TurkStream can be increased, and if so, when. All of the countries involved, including Hungary, have indicated on several occasions that they would support such an investment.

The European Commission has also contributed to the shrinking supply, making natural gas more expensive overall, says Hortay. Hungary, on the other hand, is in favor of so-called diversification, meaning that it believes that as many suppliers and as many routes as possible should be allowed to bring natural gas to the European market, allowing players to compete with each other, thus driving prices down.

In order for all of this to happen, capacity expansions are necessary, and in recent years there has been significant progress in this area, and the trend is likely to continue, concluded Olivér Hortay.

January 7, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , , | Leave a comment

Salvini’s Lega slams ‘attack on democracy’ after Brussels permanently denies Hungary over €1 billion owed

By Thomas Brooke | Remix News | January 2, 2025

Italy’s co-governing Lega party has rallied behind Viktor Orbán’s administration in Budapest after the European Union announced it was denying over €1 billion in EU funds earmarked for Hungary due to what it described as “violations of the rule of law.”

The funds, originally allocated to support structurally weak regions, were withheld following the EU Commission’s conclusion that Hungary had failed to adhere to several EU standards and fundamental values.

Following infringement proceedings issued against Hungary back in 2022, a larger sum was initially frozen with Brussels demanding that Budapest undertake several reforms to appease the European Commission in order to unlock the funds.

However, the Commission said on Tuesday that the timeframe to provide satisfactory reforms expired at the end of 2024, and because the suspension had not been lifted, the funds are now lost.

“This loss is irrevocable, and Budapest has no right to appeal,” confirmed Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokesperson for the European Commission.

Hungary’s Europe Minister János Bóka expressed outrage over the decision, asserting on Facebook that the Hungarian government had met all the necessary requirements.

“Brussels wants to withdraw the funds that Hungary and the Hungarian people are entitled to for political reasons,” he said.

Coming to the aid of Budapest, Italy’s right-wing Lega party, which rules in coalition with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) sharply criticized the action taken by Brussels.

“The cut in European funding for Hungary is a shameful attack on rights, freedom, solidarity, and democracy,” said Paolo Borchia, the Lega’s leader in the European Parliament.

Lega, led by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, called for protests through the “Patriots for Europe” group in the European Parliament of which both the Italian party and Hungary’s ruling Fidesz are members.

The party emphasized its solidarity with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and accused EU elites of targeting a democratically elected government that does not align with their political priorities.

The move represents the first time a member state has permanently lost funding owed to it by Brussels under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation; this was introduced at the start of the decade and effectively gives the European Commission the power to withhold monies owed to countries Brussels rules are not complying with EU values.

January 2, 2025 Posted by | Economics | , | Leave a comment

Asian LNG prices to rise because of Ukraine – Bloomberg

RT | January 2, 2025

The cessation of natural gas flows from Russia to European consumers following Kiev’s decision to stop transit via Ukrainian territory is expected to boost competition for alternatives between Europe and Asia, increasing prices for liquified natural gas (LNG), Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing an energy expert.

Russia officially suspended gas transit to the EU through Ukraine on January 1 after months of negotiations between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Ukrainian companies Naftogaz and the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine ended without an agreement to extend the contract.

“This is going to further tighten the LNG market,” Scott Darling, a managing director at Haitong International Securities, told Bloomberg. “Supply, particularly for LNG, is tight, and we see more upside risk to spot LNG prices this year and next.”

While the stoppage was expected after months of political wrangling, European consumers still have to replace around 5% of their gas and may rely more heavily on storage, the news outlet noted, adding that the gas repository had recently fallen below average levels for the current time of year.

In anticipation of the reduction of supply, prices for natural gas surged with Europe’s gas benchmark ending the year up more than 50%, Bloomberg reported, emphasizing that the growth hadn’t yet been reflected in the cost of the normally more-expensive LNG.

Ukraine’s transit network is connected to the pipeline systems of Moldova, Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, and then extends to Austria and Italy.

Slovakia is seen as one of the countries hardest-hit by the latest halt, as the nation covers nearly 60% of its demand with Russian supplies running through Ukraine. Moldova could also be significantly impacted by the drastic move, as the former Soviet republic generates much of its electricity at a power station fueled by Russian gas.

Russia is still able to provide European consumers with gas supplies through the TurkStream pipeline, as well as to send shipments by the sea in the form of LNG.

TurkStream runs from Russia to Türkiye via the Black Sea, and then continues to the border with EU member state Greece. It has two lines, one for the Turkish domestic market and the other for central European customers including Hungary and Serbia.

January 2, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , , , , | Leave a comment

Major Winners and Losers of Halting Russian Gas Transit Through Ukraine

By Ekaterina Blinova – Sputnik – 29.12.2024

As the Ukraine gas transit contract with Russia is set to end, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK received its first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US on December 27.

Winners

US LNG producers:

  • The halting of Russia’s gas deliveries through Ukraine will increase the US share and reduce competition in the EU market.
  • The latest US LNG delivery amounts to 100 million cubic meters of gas (1 TWh of energy, or 3,530,000 MMBtu), bought by D.Trading, DTEK’s pan-European trading subsidiary. The shipment arrived at Greek LNG terminals such as Revithoussa, where it will be “re-gasified” and distributed “through EU and Ukrainian gas networks,” according to DTEK. One network, the Vertical Corridor, will transmit US LNG deliveries between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
  • LNG from the US for Europe is at least 30-40% more expensive than pipeline gas from Russia.
  • In December 2022, the US became the world’s leading exporter of LNG amid Europe’s energy crisis and the sabotage attack on Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines.

Losers

  • Ukraine: Ukraine will lose almost $1 billion annually from Russian gas transit fees. Additionally, Ukraine is likely to pay more for US LNG coming through the Revithoussa LNG terminal than for Russian pipeline gas, which used to come in the form of a “virtual reverse.”
  • Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia which have long relied on Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will face challenges. Being landlocked, access to LNG delivered to marine terminals is costly and difficult. Long-term contracts with Russia’s Gazprom allowed them to buy natural gas considerably cheaper than EU gas spot prices. For instance, Austria had been receiving Russian gas at a price almost three times cheaper than EU spot prices in 2022, according to Reuters.
  • European Union: After sliding to $11.79/MMBtu in October, European gas prices rose to almost $15/MMBtu on November 22. On December 27, benchmark futures rose further by 5% on the news of halted Russian gas transit through Ukraine. Stopping the supply of Russian gas through Ukraine will cost Europe around $125 billion in total losses in 2025-2026, according to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

December 29, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , , , , , | Leave a comment

European countries fear losing reliable Russian gas as Zelensky remains stubborn

By Ahmed Adel | December 26, 2024

The contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is just days away from expiring, but several European countries, including Hungary, Austria and Slovakia, seek to extend critical supplies. This agreement is necessary for Central Europe since there are few replacement options.

Major Central European gas companies have signed a statement calling for the continuation of transit. These include Slovakia’s SPP, its gas network operator Eustream, Hungary’s MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc and MVM Group, as well as trade associations and major industrial customers from Hungary, Austria, Italy and Slovakia, Bloomberg reports.

“We will present the declaration to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, so that she has first-hand information about the threat to energy and economic security in our region,” SPP Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Vojtech Ferencz said.

Russia’s share of Hungary’s gas imports is 47%, while Slovakia’s is almost 90%. Austria also received 97% of its gas imports from Gazprom in January 2024. Economists attribute this high dependence to infrastructure and long-term contracts. Nord Stream, Yamal and transit pipelines through Ukraine provide uninterrupted direct supplies, and long-term agreements ensure the predictability of gas supplies.

Geography is also a tangible factor in this situation. Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia are landlocked, so access to liquefied natural gas (LNG) is difficult. Any other means of supply would raise tariffs and result in discontent among the population. This means alternative supplies can only be obtained through intermediaries, which is much more expensive. For example, the price of LNG is several times higher this way for these countries.

The countries mentioned, Gazprom’s main customers in Europe, have built their energy policies around reliable supplies from Russia for many years.

Many observers believe that Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have little to rely on. Traditional gas sources for Europe—Norway, Algeria, and Azerbaijan—are unable to cover the volume of imports needed. Together, they are ready to supply up to 45 billion cubic meters a year, which would create a deficit of about 15 billion cubic meters in the markets of individual EU countries. Experts predict that these European countries could turn to the Balkan Stream pipeline. However, its capacity fully occupies the Balkan countries.

In this context, Brussels is categorical and unwilling to budge from its stubborn position. Reuters quoted a representative of the European Commission as saying that the regulator has taken an unequivocal position.

“The Commission does not support any discussions on the contract extension nor other solutions to maintain transit flows and has not been involved in any kind of negotiations on this,” the spokesperson said.

It is recalled that the current agreement on the transit of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine expires on December 31, 2024. The Kiev regime has repeatedly said they do not plan to extend the agreement. On December 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed during a press conference that there would be no new contract for the transit of gas through that European country.

Europe faces a new energy crisis due to the decrease in gas reserves, the arrival of cold weather and sanctions imposed by the United States against the Russian bank Gazprombank, which handled payment transactions for importers of Russian fuel. Fuel prices have already risen by 45% during 2024.

At the same time, stocks are rapidly declining due to the cold, resulting in increased demand. According to Bloomberg, in the second quarter of 2025, during the warm season when gas typically becomes cheap enough to fill tanks, prices could be higher than in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia exported “around 50 billion cubic meters of gas in the first 11 months – despite all the statements and pressure from sanctions – because it is a very ecological product, it is in demand, and Russian gas is the most advantageous in terms of supply logistics and price.”

He said that Russia’s LNG exports will amount to 33 million tons by the end of 2024, adding that gas reserves in European storage facilities are currently 3-5% lower than in the past five years.

The EU has damaged its economy by refusing to cooperate with Moscow, as evidenced by the decline in production, bankruptcies and recession in the bloc countries. Russia has not denied any country the supply of its energy resources even when the European Union expected the country to collapse without energy revenue.

However, Brussels insists on a complete break with the Russian energy sector and the definitive rejection of energy from Russia in favor of more expensive alternative supplies, especially from the United States, and this will only hurt many European countries, particularly those in landlocked Central Europe.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

December 26, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , , , , | Leave a comment

Hungary to Maintain Energy Ties With Russia As No ‘Better Offer’ Exists

Sputnik – 23.12.2024

Hungary does not intend to abandon its energy cooperation with Russia in the absence of a cheaper and more reliable alternative, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti.

“Russia has been a reliable partner for us when it comes to energy supplies, that’s a fact, and in such serious issues like energy security, you only change your reliable source in case you have a better offer. But we don’t have a better offer, we don’t have an offer for more reliable or cheaper neither more reliable nor cheaper source to utilize. So why would we walk away from our energy cooperation with Russia?” Szijjarto said.

The minister emphasized that the issue of energy belongs to the realm of physical infrastructure and not politics.

“Not to speak about the fact that the energy supply is a matter of physical nature, so it’s very conservative thing to say, if there’s a pipeline, you can buy gas or oil. If there’s no pipeline, it’s just dream. So once you cut the Russian energy sources from Hungary, when it comes to natural gas or oil, simply the remaining infrastructure cannot supply the country, and it’s not a political question, if a pipeline has a certain capacity, you can make whatever statements it will not change,” he noted.

Paks II Nuclear Plant

The construction of the Russian-built Paks II Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary is moving fast, and changes to the budget will be negotiated, the foreign minister also told RIA Novosti.

“What is good news is that we are moving forward with the construction pretty quickly,” Szijjarto said.

The minister added that budget changes were nothing out of the ordinary when it came to the construction of a nuclear plant.

“Since the contract has been signed in 2014, so almost 11 years now, it is not too complicated to understand that during such a long period of time, prices of technologies, especially such complicated technologies and equipment, might have changed,” he pointed out.

The two sides will negotiate about that, the minister said.

December 23, 2024 Posted by | Economics | , | Leave a comment

Hungary dismayed at ‘unprecedented gesture in diplomacy’ by Zelensky

RT | December 15, 2024

The Ukrainian leadership turned down a phone-call request from Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a manner that was “unprecedented” in nature, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has revealed. The rebuff followed an hour-long conversation between Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with public broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Sunday, Szijjarto said that he had approached Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga and Vladimir Zelensky’s top aide Andrey Yermak, asking for the authorization of a telephone conversation between Orban and the Ukrainian leader.

”In a gesture that was quite unprecedented in diplomacy,” the request was refused in “a somewhat strained” manner, Szijjarto said, as quoted by the Magyar Nemzet newspaper. Hungary’s top diplomat did not elaborate on the exact wording used by the authorities in Kiev.

Hungary has tried “everything” during the past six months of its EU presidency to use it “for a good cause, to initiate a ceasefire and peace negotiations,” Szijjarto noted. Budapest has held the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the second half of this year.

Earlier this week Orban said he’d put forward a proposal for a Christmas ceasefire and a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.

”One side accepted it, the other rejected it,” the Premier told Kossuth Radio on Friday.

Zelensky, in turn, claimed that the Hungarian leader was only trying to “boost personal image at the expense of unity” in the EU in terms of supporting Ukraine.

The authorities in Kiev have sent mixed messages about their readiness for negotiations with Russia.

On Wednesday, Zelensky’s top adviser Mikhail Podoliak said Kiev could engage in talks with Moscow if they are not based on Russia’s conditions.

Andrey Yermak said on Friday that Ukraine was not ready to start any talks with Russia as there is insufficient support from the West to conduct negotiations from a position of strength.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it’s ready to resume the negotiations. It has urged Kiev to accept the new realities “on the ground,” with President Vladimir Putin citing the complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian forces from all Russian territories as a key prerequisite for peace talks.

December 15, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

EU has failed to cut energy ties with Russia – commissioner

RT | December 12, 2024

The EU has failed to overcome its dependence on Russian energy, and needs a new plan to wean itself off Moscow’s supplies, the bloc’s new energy chief told Politico on Thursday.

In his first interview since taking the post, Dan Jorgensen highlighted the growth in Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases.

The share of Russian LNG on the EU market reached 20% this year, according to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, despite Brussels’ pledge to stop consuming Russian fuel by 2027.

“It’s obvious to everybody that something new needs to happen because… now it’s beginning to go in the wrong direction,” the EU Energy commissioner said, while pledging to present “a tangible roadmap that will include efficient tools and means for us to solve the remaining part of the problem.”

The new measures will target “gas primarily, but also oil and nuclear” and will be formulated by mid-March, Jorgensen said, noting that five EU countries still rely on Russia for nuclear fuel.

The EU declared its intention to end its dependence on Russian energy supplies following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Supplies of higher-cost US fuel have replaced much of the cheap pipeline gas that was previously delivered by Russia.

However, efforts have stalled in recent months, and the EU continues to buy billions of euros’ worth of Russian gas each month. In 2024, the bloc is expected to import 10% more LNG from Russia than in 2023, according to energy analytics firm Kpler.

Politico noted, however, that any plan to sever energy ties with Russia in the next few years would be strongly opposed by EU members that are still heavily reliant the imports, particularly Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders Viktor Orban and Robert Fico have resisted energy sanctions on Russia.

Jorgensen’s proposal is also likely to come just weeks after a long-term contract for Russian gas transit via Ukraine is set to expire, on December 31. The EU still receives around 5% of its gas from Russia via Ukraine’s gas transit network, according to the latest data.

Last month, Bloomberg warned of an imminent energy crisis in Western and Central Europe due to the latest US sanctions against Russia’s Gazprombank, the primary bank for energy-related transactions. The outlet said that rapidly depleting gas reserves and potential supply cuts from Russia threaten to exacerbate an already difficult situation.

December 12, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia | , , , | Leave a comment

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