Szijjarto discusses security, energy with Estonian officials in Tallinn

Tallinn, December 10 (MTI) – Hungary and Estonia agree that Europe’s top priority should be to protect its borders, the foreign minister said after talks with Estonian officials on Thursday.

Peter Szijjarto discussed European security issues, energy supply and the migrant crisis with his Estonian counterpart, Marina Kaljurand, the heads of the Estonian parliament’s foreign and European affairs committees and trade officials.

Szijjarto said he and Kaljurand agreed that it is “unacceptable” that certain European Union member states deliberately violated the bloc’s rules that are meant to ensure the protection of its external borders.

The minister said he and his negotiating partners agreed that it was “a shame” that the European Commission “has kept silent on its decision” to double the capacity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline that supplies Russian gas to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, as the EC’s argument against the expansion of the Southern Corridor was that it bypassed Ukraine. Szijjarto said gas supply along the Nord Stream pipeline involves western European businesses instead of central and eastern European ones, meaning that the EC applies “the same, unacceptable double standards” in energy. Szijjarto and his negotiating partners called on the EC to support investments that contribute to the energy security of central Europe and the Baltic region.