Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said in Tbilisi that Hungary is interested in future imports of clean electricity from the South Caucasus, so it would like to build a Black Sea pipeline between Georgia and Romania as soon as possible.

At a meeting dedicated to the so-called "Green Energy Corridor," the minister said that the current geopolitical crisis had highlighted the fragility of European energy security. He emphasized that the price of natural gas at some point increased tenfold, and filling storage facilities before the heating season has become a big problem. The Hungarian Foreign Minister also touched on the sabotage at Nord Stream and lamented that, although the terrorist attack was carried out against critical European infrastructure, there was no independent international investigation, which, according to him, is complete madness.

"If the winter had not been so mild, the continent would have faced much more serious problems," Szijjártó said. However, he said that in the medium to long term, tens of billions of cubic meters of Russian natural gas have disappeared from European supplies, while demand is also growing with the reopening of the Chinese economy, and there is no guarantee that this year's winter will be like this. 

The minister believes that the most realistic scenario for diversifying supplies to Hungary is to attract resources from the South Caucasus region. Thus, this year Hungary expects to receive 100 million cubic meters from Azerbaijan; later, the volume may increase to 2 billion cubic meters per year. The minister signaled that this would require connecting Georgia to Romania and, if successful, would be the world's longest undersea pipeline at some 1,200 kilometers.

"We like ambitious plans, we like to dream big," Szijjártó said. He added that Hungary is interested in the efficient and fast implementation of the project, so a clear agenda is needed, and a feasibility study should be for the entire project, including national development plans. "The Hungarian government is ready to share the costs and supports the creation of a joint economic project with the participation of four states. Bulgaria would like to join," the minister concluded.