After Russia invaded Ukraine, Hungary moved to diversify its energy sources away from Moscow, and Azerbaijan has played a big role in this effort.
“Without the Turkic countries, Hungary would not have a secure energy supply,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after talks with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
“Families would be paying two to three times higher prices for energy than they are now without the Turkic countries,” Orbán said at a press conference following their meeting.
“Without our Turkish friends, the reduction of utility bills would not be possible in Hungary,” said Viktor Orbán. He added that the first shipment of natural gas from Azerbaijan arrived last year, and Aliyev promised that this would be the case this year as well.
Orbán emphasized that no matter what difficulties Hungary has had in recent decades – whether of a foreign policy, financial or energy nature – Azerbaijan could always be counted on.
He also pointed out that we live in “an age of danger,” with global security continuously being tested by challenges. “At such times, it is important for friendly countries to meet and review bilateral relations as well as the international situation,” he said.
The Hungarian prime minister also emphasized that for the first time in the history of the Organization of Turkic States, its summit is being held in Hungary.
He said that Hungary has been living in a war-torn neighborhood for three years, and the Hungarian economy has already suffered losses of more than €20 billion due to the war and sanctions.
“Between isolating the war and expanding the war, the EU sided with war instead of peace, and this caused serious damage,” Orbán said.
“The European economy is also in a difficult situation because the war and sanctions have shattered the strategic foundations of what had been successful economic growth,” he said.
The Hungarian prime minister highlighted Europe’s continuous energy crisis and its impact on the economy, saying, “We pay three to four times as much for gas and electricity in Europe as in America, and this makes it impossible to build a competitive economy.”
Orbán also mentioned that Hungary fought to maintain energy relations with Russia, but in response to the Ukrainians closing the Ukrainian pipeline, they had to turn elsewhere. “Then, we agreed with our Turkish friends that we would supply Hungary from the south,” he recalled.
He further made clear how much Hungary greatly appreciates that Azerbaijan has made it possible for MVM and MOL to purchase shares in Azerbaijani oil and gas fields and pipelines.
“This means that we have hundreds of millions of cubic meters of natural gas and hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil on the international energy market every year,” he said.
The two countries also agreed to expand their cooperation to renewable energy.
Highlighting the importance of peace to both countries, Orbán also congratulated Aliyev on finalizing the text of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace agreement. According to him, the agreement is a good example of how a war can be ended diplomatically.
“In this turbulent international world, every peace success is extremely important for Hungary,” the prime minister stated.
For his part, President Aliyev said that Hungarian-Azerbaijani relations are developing successfully and that the two are allies.
“The fact that Hungary can host the summit of the Turkic States Organization as an observer state proves that Hungary is closely connected to its historical roots,” he said, while also congratulating Hungary on its achievement of being “one of the few countries that has pursued an independent foreign policy.”
He further thanked Orbán for upholding his country’s national interests-“We appreciate this greatly and even pay tribute to it,” he said.
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