On Monday, 27 September, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has initiated the postponement of a meeting of the joint Ukrainian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. Because Budapest decided to sign a contract with Russia’s Gazprom on gas transit bypassing Ukraine.
The meeting of the joint commission in Budapest was scheduled for 29-30 September.
“The Ukrainian side has been carefully preparing for it, expecting the event to be another positive step in bilateral relations. Today the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has initiated a postponement of the commission meeting,” the statement said.
The Foreign Ministry said the Hungarian-Russian gas agreement will have a significant impact on the energy security of Ukraine and Europe and will create new circumstances that require a comprehensive analysis of risks and threats, as well as a concerted action by the countries in the region to minimize its negative consequences.
“We consider this an exclusively political, economically unjustified decision taken to please the Kremlin and to the detriment of the national interests of Ukraine and Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, which does not comply with the principles of the Treaty on Good Neighbourhood and Cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Hungary of 6 December 1991,” the statement said.
The Foreign Ministry noted that Budapest’s decision damages positive results and trends in bilateral Ukrainian-Hungarian relations.
“Hungary will continue to benefit more from receiving gas in transit through Ukraine’s extensive gas transportation system, which allows the shortest route for uninterrupted gas supplies to European countries,” the Foreign Ministry added.