Orban: Europe needs affordable energy

Budapest, January 29 (MTI) – A key question for Europe’s energy policy is whether the community can ensure energy for the economy at competitive prices, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after talks with Donald Tusk, his Polish counterpart, in Budapest today.

Parties at the talks agreed that energy must be made cheaper both at national and European level or else “Europe will not be able to compete with Russia, the US, or even China if the latter’s economy has access to cheaper energy than the EU economy,” Orban said.

The prime minister said Poland and Hungary shared the view that nuclear energy was “clean” and EU members had the right to use it as part of their energy supplies.

Orban voiced firm support for Hungary’s utility cuts programme, saying that despite the EU’s objections Hungary would not give up its ways of centrally reducing the price of energy for households. He suggested that a unified European energy market with lower prices was not to be hoped for in the near future. “By the time that happens I will be receiving my pension,” he said.

Concerning ties with Poland, Orban said that Hungary would reopen its consulate-general in Cracow in spring, which was closed down in 2009. He said south-north links are crucial, and referred to a gas interconnector between Hungary and Slovakia under construction, which he said should be linked to Poland as soon as possible. The prime minister also stressed the need to build quality roads between Hungary and Poland.