Politics.hu: Hungary re-confirms commitment to South Stream pipeline

Hungary re-confirmed on Monday its commitment to the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, one among several projects to import Russian natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine, the development ministry said in a statement.

The South Stream pipeline will fill missing links between the countries concerned, and will improve energy security in the whole of Central Europe. It will also have an important role in increasing GDP and employment, and mitigating the impact of the economic crisis, Minister for National Development Zsuzsanna Nemeth said at a conference titled The Evolution of a Pipeline, on Monday.

“The planned construction of South Stream is unique among a number of projects with similar objectives in terms of the strong political support it receives and the determination of the participating companies. I am glad to say that preparations for the Hungarian stretch of the gas pipeline are progressing well. In order to speed up implementation, the Hungarian government has declared it a specially important project for the national economy, Nemeth said.

She said Russia continued to be Hungary’s strategic partner of outstanding importance in energy affairs and noted that Hungary was the largest market in Central Europe for Russian gas. Being a clean, natural energy source, natural gas will be an important means in the fight against climate change in the decades to come, she added.

Nemeth called for joint efforts to overcome the difficulties in the way of implementation and said solutions must be worked out in line with the European Union energy policy to formulate strong and long-term partnerships.  MORE