For decades, Eastern and Western economies were “exceptionally” dependent on one another, but after severing connections with Russia, it is uncertain how the EU will remain competitive, according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. He referenced electricity rates in the EU as an example, which are now three times higher than in China.
Szijjarto declared on Thursday at an international conference on Eurasian security in the Belarusian capital Minsk that “the success of Western countries is almost impossible to imagine without cooperation with Eastern countries.” And the inverse is also true.”
The diplomat emphasised that without inexpensive resource supplies, the car sector, which he described as the “backbone of the European economy,” will be unable to enter a “new age” of electric vehicle production.
For decades, Szijjarto said, a mix of Western technology and affordable Eastern energy had been the “foundation” of the global economy.
“Unfortunately, this combo has now broken down. As a result, Europeans now pay four times as much for petrol. We spend three times as much for electricity as Chinese people. “It’s difficult to see how the European economy can compete in such circumstances,” the minister stated.
He asserted that during the last year and a half, energy supply issues have become “hostage to political debate,” despite the fact that energy has nothing to do with politics because it is a subject of “physical reality.”
“It is the Hungarian government’s duty and responsibility to ensure the country’s safe energy supplies.” “We will continue to cooperate in reasonable relations with Russia because it is physically impossible without Russian resources,” Szijjarto stated.
The envoy emphasised the importance of resuming “civilised dialogue” between the East and the West, saying that Hungary is willing to serve as a bridge between the two.
