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SZIJJÁRTÓ: NEW ENERGY PROSPECTS

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said there was a possibility that new energy sources would soon be discovered. He noted that the region will have an additional energy source once gas extraction gets under way in the Black Sea gas field. Szijjártó also noted that Russian energy giant Gazprom is building two lines for the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, one of which will serve the Turkish market, with the other expected to supply gas to the Balkans and central Europe. The minister said the Turkish Stream project was regularly the target of criticism, which he attributed to "double standards and hypocrisy". Szijjártó noted that the largest energy project, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, was being built in western Europe. This pipeline, he noted, would transport gas from Russia to western Europe. "We have to demand that such a development should also be made possible in central Europe," Szijjártó said, adding that this would be the Turkish Stream pipeline. He said the two projects were similar in the sense that they would both serve the flow of Russian gas, both involve Gazprom and they would both involve new supply routes. The minister said: "If the European Commission doesn't object to the western European pipeline, then why does it object to the one planned by the smaller central European countries?" On the topic of nuclear energy, Szijjártó noted that it has been in use in Hungary since the 1980s. Around 40% of Hungary's electricity is generated from nuclear energy, and the plan is to increase this share in the long run, he added.