Hungary Secures Gas via Serbia as Ukraine Cuts Russian Transit
(MENAFN) Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned that Ukraine’s decision to halt gas transit through its territory jeopardizes Europe’s energy security. He noted that Hungary has been able to maintain its energy supplies thanks to Serbia’s support.
At the end of 2024, Kiev declined to renew its five-year transit agreement with Russia’s Gazprom, effectively cutting off natural gas deliveries to multiple EU nations, including Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and Moldova.
“Ukraine has abandoned Central Europe in terms of energy supply security after shutting down the natural gas pipeline that used to transport gas from Russia, from the east, to Europe – primarily to Central Europe,” Szijjarto stated in a Facebook video posted Saturday. He emphasized the region is now facing a precarious energy situation as a result.
The Hungarian official also revealed that Serbia has stepped in to facilitate transit shipments, ensuring the region’s gas needs are met. Currently, Hungary receives more than 20 million cubic meters of gas daily via its neighbor.
Following Ukraine’s refusal to extend the Gazprom transit contract, the TurkStream pipeline, which traverses Türkiye and the Balkans, now stands as the sole conduit for Russian gas to reach the region.
Russia, previously the EU’s leading gas supplier, drastically slashed exports to the bloc three years ago amid Western sanctions linked to the Ukraine war and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. This led to a plunge in Russia’s share of EU pipeline gas imports from over 40% in 2021 to roughly 11% in 2024.
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