For the time being, Hungary’s gas supply is not in danger, but we must keep our wits about us, we must perform the necessary inspections and must provide ongoing protection, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated at an extraordinary press conference held on Monday after he personally inspected the reinforced military protection of the Hungarian section of the TurkStream gas pipeline in the vicinity of Kiskundorozsma that was put into effect the day before.
The Prime Minister described the situation as grave, with reference to the fact that based on the available information, the day before, a sabotage operation was being prepared on the Vojvodina section of the TurkStream gas pipeline supplying Hungary. He thanked the Serbians for their prompt and effective action with which, in his view, they prevented “more serious trouble.”
He indicated that the investigation into the sabotage operation was ongoing. He recalled: at the beginning of the Ukrainian oil blockade, the government decided to place all critical infrastructure elements under military protection, as a result of which, also at present, the gas supply station in Kiskundorozsma is being secured by members of the military, while the decision adopted by the Defence Council on Sunday means that they have placed multiple sections of the pipeline under reinforced protection.
He added: today, they are there together with leaders of the army in order to inspect the troops assigned for the fulfilment of the task. “We conducted an inspection, we checked their equipment, checked out the soldiers, spoke to their commanders, and I can tell members of the Hungarian public that the Hungarian Defence Forces are able to place this pipeline under military protection, and to also protect it should the need arise,” he stated.
He said they have instated a patrolling protocol, after the issuance of the order on Sunday, they now have a full plan, and its implementation has begun. “So, for the time being, Hungary’s gas supply is not in danger, but we must keep our wits about us, we must perform the necessary inspections and must provide ongoing protection,” he pointed out.
He stressed: for the time being, they are handling the oil blockade with different methods, but the gas pipeline is more like an “artery,” if that is blocked, then Hungary’s gas supply is in jeopardy. He recalled: in the winter of 2022, the Ukrainians decided to block the gas pipeline coming from Russia, however, at that time, Hungary had an “escape route” because already after the war in Crimea, at the recommendation of the Hungarian foreign minister, they built another gas pipeline, the TurkStream pipeline on the basis of agreements concluded with several countries.
As a result, when the Ukrainians blocked the Russian gas coming via their territory, they managed to put this pipeline into operation and managed to increase its capacity, he argued. He stressed: therefore, the TurkStream gas pipeline is an umbilical cord for Hungary, if that is severed, then the Hungarian economy will come to a halt and Hungarian families in the hundreds of thousands will find themselves without gas supply.
In answer to a question, the Prime Minister said for the time being, there is no definitive information on who prepared the sabotage operation, “we Hungarians are unable to answer this question.” Energy security is not a game, neither is the way we talk about it, and so we should only state facts that we do know for certain, he stressed, adding that the Serbian authorities are conducting the relevant investigations, the case is currently in the prosecution phase, the charge being a sabotage operation.
In continuation, the Prime Minister said he would rather not damage Hungarian-Ukrainian relations any further by accusing Ukraine without knowing the facts of the case beyond reasonable doubt, and therefore, he will wait for the end of the investigations. At the same time, Mr Orbán took the view that what they are currently experiencing fits into the Ukrainians’ strategy of detaching the whole of Europe from Russian energy. The Ukrainians do have such capabilities, and are willing and able to conduct such operations, he said, recalling the detonation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
We are not aware of any such operations, had we had such information, we would have prevented them in good time, he said in answer to the question of whether they are aware of preparations for a sabotage operation against the gas pipeline in Hungary. He said all Hungarian agencies guaranteeing security “are in full-throttle mode,” the Defence Council is effectively in session continuously.
In his view, the threat to Hungarian infrastructure will remain in place until the negative decision on Russian energy is reversed and the normal pre-war order is restored when we could import energy into the European Union from the East as well. In his view, if they are unable to find a solution to maintaining bearable energy prices and avoiding the threat of a shortage, the European economy will, quite simply, sustain a radical loss of performance.
He added that this would upset everything, including economic growth, interest rates and inflation. “The clock is ticking for European leaders,” if they fail to make a decision, they will drive Europe into an almost unmanageable situation, he said, observing that the worst-case and at the same time most probable scenario is that there will be an energy crisis in Europe such as the one we experienced in 2022 and at the same time, there will be a financial crisis similar to the one we had in 2008.
In response to the suggestion that President of the Tisza Party Péter Magyar asked them to invite him to the meeting of the Defence Council, Mr Orbán said “the gentleman’s name is not on the list of the invited guests” in the rules of the council. At the same time, he sees no reason for this, Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party will win the elections, he laid down.
The country’s energy security is not a campaign issue, this is a governmental issue which requires calm, strategic calm; rather than theatricals and clowning about, there is a need for a calm, composed and firm hand, Mr Orbán stressed. In his view, we are in the middle of a highly critical period. “Therefore, at this time, I suggest to everyone that we should not regard this as a campaign issue. As far as I can see, we haven’t turned this into a campaign issue, it is our opponents who have,” he pointed out.
In response to the suggestion that there have been rumours around for weeks to the effect that we may expect some sabotage operation during the final phase of the campaign, whether against his person or the country, Mr Orbán said he does not expect anything of the kind, and additionally, there are six days left of the campaign. “We’ll see. We sincerely hope that these last few days will pass in peace and calm,” he stated.
In reference to the sabotage operation, he stressed: in his mind, this incident is not connected to the campaign because its consequences will have an impact not on the elections, but on Hungary’s energy security. He said it is important that the campaign should not be mixed with governance.
“There are governmental issues and there are campaign issues. If we mix the two up, that will only lead to trouble,” he observed.
In answer to a question, he warned that the whole of Europe was heading for an extremely grave energy crisis, the next few days, “perhaps, only days, rather than weeks” will be crucial. First, there will be a price race, to be followed by a stocks race. He said there is a major battle under way in the background which is about whether the sanctions on Russian energy should be lifted, in accordance with the Hungarian position, whether with regard to the energy supply crisis that developed due to the situation in the Hormuz Strait, we should suspend all sanctions and restrictions and should start importing all the gas we can.
On the other side, there is the position that there is no need for this, while there will be supply problems, we must nonetheless maintain the sanctions on Russian energy, and the considerations of the Russo-Ukrainian war must be placed before the considerations related to Europe’s energy supply, he added.
Answering another question, the Prime Minister stressed: according to the Treaties of the European Union, it is the sovereign right of every Member State to determine its energy mix. Therefore, he described any external interference on Brussels’ part in this as “illegitimate, unlawful, unacceptable and harmful,” indicating that the Hungarian government is fighting against this.
He also warned: while at this point in time, everyone is focusing on the 12 April elections, there is another important date as on 15 April, the EU’s energy commissioner will want to have a decision approved which will also ban Russian oil from the European Union.
He said on 12 April they must win the elections and then on 15 April they will have to win another battle in Brussels because otherwise Hungary’s energy supply and the Hungarian economy will be in very grave trouble.
He also spoke about the fact that the pipeline systems, supply and needs of Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia are connected together, and so in the future, these three countries will have to agree on how they can mutually help each other in the event of the emergence of such situations. Three coordinated energy systems and infrastructure developments provide greater security and protection than the present fragmented systems, he added, observing that they are grateful to the oil company Mol for the fact that also now, they are trying to organise the three countries’ needs into a coordinated supply system.
In response to the suggestion that according to western press information, the leaders of the EU called upon the Ukrainian president to stop attacking energy infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister said he is not aware of any such information, of any Ukrainian-EU talks or message exchanges. He indicated at the same time that after the closure of the Druzhba oil pipeline, the Ukrainians refused entry to Hungarian and Slovak experts to the site, and for the time being, neither have the European Union’s observers been granted access.
He is of the opinion that Ukraine’s behaviour vis-à-vis both Hungary and Europe falls beyond the kind of behaviour that could be expected of a country aspiring to become a member. “What the Ukrainians are doing is nothing other than delivering evidence with daily regularity to the effect that they are not suitable for becoming members of the European Union,” he laid down.
At the press conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó also spoke about the fact that today in European natural gas storage facilities, there is just nine per cent of Europe’s annual gas needs, while in Hungary this percentage stands at 25 per cent. This is the difference between an ideology-based and a reasonable energy policy, he stressed.
According to the Minister, the government must now focus on maximising gas supplies to Hungary. Last year at Kiskundorozsma, 7.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas came into the country which is a record, he said, adding that there is 33.5 million cubic metres of natural gas in the Hungarian supply system daily: 4.5 million from Hungary’s own production, and 29 million cubic metres from imports. This remains a perfectly stable system as long as we are able to defend our positions against the European Union and Brussels, as long as we are able to fight for cheap Russian energy coming to Hungary, he laid down, adding that “our energy security depends on us being able to buy energy carriers from both East and West.”
