Hungary summons Ukrainian envoy over Russian gas supply deal spat

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's foreign minister, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at United Nations headquarters on Sept 23, 2021, during the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. (JOHN MINCHILLO / AP)

BUDAPEST – Hungary's foreign minister summoned Ukraine's ambassador on Tuesday over what he said were Ukraine's attempts to block Hungary's new long-term gas supply deal with Russia, which was signed on Monday.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a statement that this amounted to a "violation of Hungary's sovereignty".

Under the deal signed on Monday, which is effective from Oct 1, Russia's Gazprom will ship 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Hungary annually, via two routes: 3.5 billion cubic metres via Serbia and 1 billion cubic metres via Austria

Hungary accused Ukraine of meddling in its internal affairs on Monday after Kyiv criticized it over the signing of a new 15-year natural gas supply deal with Russia's Gazprom. 

"We regard it a violation of our sovereignty that Ukraine wants to block a secure gas supply for Hungary," Szijjarto said in a statement.

Ukraine, which stands to lose money on transit payments, issued a statement on Monday saying Hungary's supply deal was a "purely political, economically unreasonable decision" and was to the detriment of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.

It also said it would ask the European Commission to assess whether the deal respected European energy law, to which Szijjarto responded on Tuesday by saying that he was "outraged".

ALSO READ: Hungary, Ukraine top diplomats aim to defuse dispute

Ukraine's foreign ministry told Reuters on Tuesday it had summoned the Hungarian ambassador in a tit-for-tat move.

"Gas transportation bypassing Ukraine undermines our country's national security and Europe's energy security," the foreign ministry's spokesman said in a text message.

"The Ukrainian side will take decisive measures to protect national interests," it said, without elaborating.

Under the deal signed on Monday, which is effective from Oct 1, Gazprom will ship 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Hungary annually, via two routes: 3.5 billion cubic metres via Serbia and 1 billion cubic metres via Austria.

Relations between Hungary and its neighbour Ukraine have been scarred for years by a dispute over the linguistic rights of some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the western Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia.

Kyiv infuriated Budapest in 2017 with a law restricting the use of minority languages including Hungarian in schools.

READ MORE: Hungarian PM Orban launches campaign with anti-migrant plan

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government responded by blocking Ukraine's efforts to build closer ties with NATO and the European Union, of which Hungary is a member.

Previous post UREEQA Launches New High-yield Staking Pools
Next post Sweden police probe Gothenburg blast, 3 in intensive care