Hungary: “Nord Stream 2 investment demonstrates EU double standards”

Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, believes that the EU has been (and still is) showing double standards with regards to Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

Nord Stream 2 is a 55 billion m³ pipeline, which will transport natural gas from Russia to Europe via the Baltic sea.

South Stream pipeline would transport natural gas from Russia to southeast Europe, crossing the Black Sea.

In a recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Szijjarto stated: “What is currently happening with regards to the Nord Stream 2 investment demonstrates the EU’s double standards … The European Union and others have been putting serious pressure on us and some other Balkan and central European countries in order to prevent South Stream implementation. For Hungary, the South Stream project would mean diversification, which would improve the country’s energy security. Back then, the argument was voiced that a pipeline bypassing Ukraine should not be constructed and the project is not economically viable. Now we see that there is another pipeline bypassing Ukraine but the European Commission does not protest as loudly as they did regarding South Stream, so I see only one difference in those ‘streams’ – companies’ participations, which means the European Commission uses double standards.”

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is opposed by Brussels and Washington (USA) as it is feared that the dependency on Russia for natural gas will increase, and as a result, could potentially threaten Europe’s energy security.

Edited from various sources by Stephanie Roker

Sources: Sputnik News, TASS

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/27052016/nord-stream-2-investment-demonstrates-eu-double-standards/