The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which plans to carry Russian gas to Germany through the Baltic sea, will bring more drawbacks for Eastern Europe than benefits, according to Peter Kaderjak, Hungary's state secretary for energy and climate policy on Friday.
According to Daily News Hungary, Kaderjak advocated for a pipeline between Romania-Hungary-Slovakia and Austria as a better and more promising option.
Since the first announcement of the Nord Stream 2 project, Hungary has been supportive of it and has never voiced any opposition to the project until now.
However, now Kaderjak claims that, "With the Nord Stream 2, Hungary would have additional prices to pay." Kaderjak asserted that the cheapest gas delivery route is via Ukraine - a route that Hungary prefers.
Many European countries such as Czechia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine oppose the project, which aims to carry 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Germany, claiming it will increase Russia's monopoly in the European energy market.
At the end of June, the Hungarian Foreign and Foreign Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto told Sputnik news agency that the European Union is applying double standards to the Nord Stream 2 by approving other gas projects in Europe, like the TurkStream, but objecting to the Nord Stream 2. "We are not part of the project, but we can’t oppose it. But I can say there are unacceptable double standards," the minister said.
(Anadolu Agency)
