EU country slams gas sharing plan as ‘communism’
Hungary has reportedly lashed out at the EU over a suggestion that all natural gas stored by individual member states must be shared, as the continent grapples with the mounting energy crisis.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto strongly criticized the proposal to enforce “binding energy solidarity,” which was put forward by the European People’s Party (EPP), media reported on Thursday.
“Hungarian gas storage facilities will remain Hungarian property, we will use the gas in Hungarian gas storage facilities purchased with Hungarian taxpayers’ money in Hungary.” Szijjarto was quoted as saying.
EPP President Manfred Weber told German newspaper Tagesspiegel earlier this month that the EU needed “binding mechanisms on how to deal with the gas that is in the storage tanks in solidarity, so that everyone doesn’t just look at themselves.”
“Weber’s proposal somewhat reminds us of communism,” Szijjarto said.
Hungary signed a 15-year contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom last year to receive natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline and other gas pipelines in southeastern Europe.
The continent is currently facing an energy crisis caused in large part by the sanctions on Russia. The restrictions resulted in a massive reduction in the flow of Russian gas to Germany, which in turn has driven up gas prices and triggered warnings of a severe crisis in the coming winter.
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