Nemeth: MOL could acquire NIS in coming weeks to ensure energy security

BELGRADE - The chairman of the Hungarian parliamentary committee on foreign affairs Zsolt Nemeth said on Thursday he hoped the Hungarian oil firm MOL would be able to complete an acquisition of a majority stake in the Serbian oil company NIS in the coming weeks, and noted that the transaction would contribute to the citizens' economic and energy security.

Nemeth, who was on a two-day visit to Belgrade and met with Serbian officials, told Tanjug in an interview that he also expected a high-speed rail line between Budapest and Belgrade to be opened to traffic in early April.

"This is a time when we really need this type of energy and economic security. So I am very optimistic about it. Just recently we got the permission from the United States to extend until May our negotiations (with Russia's Gazprom neft). We are very hopeful that, in the next weeks, we will be able to finalise them and satisfy the interests of the Serbian state and, at the same time, the Hungarian company," he said.

"MOL is a big regional multinational company that has been able to acquire in the past decades the Croatian INA company, the Slovak Slovnaft company, and there are very important investments all over the region. I would mention the Czech Republic, Romania. Now they have a heavy presence in Poland as well," he said, adding that "that kind of ability to help each other and NIS is an important asset in this portfolio and will create a high level of economic security for our citizens."

"I think our citizens will be the beneficiaries of this regional collaboration. I would also mention that, if we talk about energy security, we have decided that we will construct an oil pipeline between our countries, and now we had a very unfortunate experience with our Croatian colleagues. They have not been able to decide to abide by their legal obligations concerning the transports of Russian oil as a consequence (of the fact) that the Ukrainians suspended the supply of the Druzhba pipeline, and now we have a very bitter discussion with them. This gave an encouragement to us to move forward and now we have got a very clear plan that we will build this oil pipeline, which is not just a pipeline for crude oil, but for gasoline and petrol as well, which makes also the economic and energy security of our countries more secure," Nemeth added.

"And I could also mention the potential cooperation in the field of nuclear collaboration. We are now in the process of building two new blocks in Paks, and the nuclear power station there will be an important asset for generating electric energy in the future for our partners, potentially to Serbia as well," he said.

Speaking about efforts by Hungary and its partners to build a North-South economic infrastructural energy corridor, Nemeth said the role of Serbia was "that we need to extend it towards the Mediterranean."

"And in this effort, we had a lot of important projects we have been able to realise and that we are going to have in the future," he added.

Nemeth said that Hungary currently chaired the Visegrad Four cooperation and was now able to represent its partners - Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - as well.

He said that, in the field of energy, there were various plans on how Hungary and Serbia could be integrated.

"And if we look from this dimension at Serbian and Central European cooperation, the relevance of such projects, like the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade railway, is a major project," Nemeth said.

"Obviously, transport is the key to economy, to tourism, to exchange of culture, and I think we have to continue taking very seriously this aspect, the transport dimension," he added.

Nemeth advised everyone to use the high-speed rail line "because, in three hours, you can be in Budapest and you can enjoy even a nice theater, opera or concert."

"We look forward to receiving many tourists from Serbia as a consequence of the building of this fast train," he said.

Nemeth: Serbia's value growing, we will not allow Ukraine to join EU before it

BELGRADE - The chairman of the Hungarian parliamentary committee on foreign affairs Zsolt Nemeth, who is also an official of the country's ruling party Fidesz, said on Thursday that, internationally, Serbia's value was growing and that it was ready for EU accession, and noted that Hungary, alongside other friends of Serbia, would insist on EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and would not let Ukraine, or any other Eastern country, join the EU before Serbia and the Western Balkans.

"We will do our utmost, that is what we can promise. And there are friends of Serbia, not just Hungary, who will push for the enlargement. And we will not allow Ukraine or any other country from the East to come first, before Serbia and before the Western Balkans. The merit-based membership is a central idea which we stick to, and that kind of effort that you have done explains why we will give an absolute priority to Serbia, to Montenegro, to join the EU first," Nemeth told Tanjug in an interview.

"We need to continue our dialogue and our ability to find compromises is a key to making steps forward," he said.

"How Europe is ready, that is another question. I would say that Serbia is ready for joining the European Union. The process has started in 2012. You have now had 14 years of negotiation with the EU and transformation of the legal and the economic system," Nemeth added.

"I believe that it is high time. The difference is that, today, I think, the European Union is less ready to allow new members (to join)," he said, adding that events such as the war in Iran and the crisis in the EU created a situation within the union in which "there is no proper ability to decide on these questions."

Speaking about the exceptionally high level of Serbia-Hungary relations, Nemeth said the personal relationship between Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had contributed to them and had even been crucial.

"Obviously, personal relations are key to diplomacy and, in contemporary European politics, we are missing personalities. And for that reason, many decisions are not made. And that is a kind of leadership crisis in the European Union. That is what we cannot say about either Hungary or Serbia. And it has a positive impact on the bilateral relations. The two number one leaders of our countries have a good chemistry between them, and I think we need to capitalise on them. We are very glad to enjoy, before the elections, the support of President Vucic, and he enjoys the support of the Hungarian government as well," he said.

During a two-day visit to Serbia, Nemeth met with Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, FM Marko Djuric and members of the Serbian parliamentary committee on foreign affairs.

Nemeth, whose visit began on March 24, coinciding with commemorations of the anniversary of the start of the 1999 NATO aggression on Serbia, expressed his deepest empathy for the victims of the bombing 27 years ago.

"I find it very important that we do remember. We should not forget what happened, but also we should look to the future. There is a new geopolitical environment around Serbia, and there are new possibilities in front of the country," he said.

Asked how he saw Serbia's positioning amid the current geopolitical circumstances and the country's cooperation with the East and the West, Nemeth said that, internationally, Serbia's value was growing.

"Your commitment to European integration, not without certain conditions, is also something that we are supporting and we are favouring. And I am very glad to see that you have got a very open foreign policy along the principle of global connectivity," he said.

"I had a good discussion about the American trip by the foreign minister (Marko Djuric) to Washington DC and (about) your closer collaboration, military collaboration with NATO as well. And also we experience the kind of close relationship with China in many fields of your foreign policy activity. So the value of Serbia, I think, on the international market is growing. We are becoming a bit envious, because we want to maintain this very privileged partnership. But if we are able to maintain this privileged partnership, you are welcome to continue this approach to foreign policy, which is very similar to the Hungarian one," Nemeth said, adding that Serbia could count on Hungary's support.

"And I hope that, sooner or later, we will sit around the same table in the European Union," he added.

Speaking about the April 12 parliamentary elections in Hungary, Nemeth said Fidesz faced a stronger opposition candidate than in the past and added that the previous opposition had collapsed.

"We have had a government for 16 years now. You may be bored as 16 years is a long time, and you would like to have a new power, a new face. But at the same time, you should realise that you know what this government is able to do, what it can perform, how far we have come. And the alternative, you do not know. The only message what you can identify is that they say, 'no Orban' and 'no Fidesz,'" he said.

"We have got a war in our neighborhood. Every day, new consequences are stemming from this war. We have just experienced the Iranian crisis, how it affected the energy prices, the petrol prices, for example. In a very vulnerable environment that we have now, you should go for the safe option. And that is the slogan of Hungary, of Fidesz, that Fidesz is a safe option," he added.

"I tried hard, but I could not really find out what kind of foreign policy, for example, they (the opposition) want to have. What I can realise is that they have a very close harmonisation with some players in Europe, like Madame (Ursula) von der Leyen or the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, or Mr Plenkovic, and this suggests to us that this is what we can expect from them, that they will be more willing to adhere to expectations from Brussels and from other foreign actors," Nemeth said, adding that support from US President Donald Trump meant much to Fidesz and Orban.

"It means a lot to us because something important is happening now. In the United States, which is very close to us, it is a kind of patriotic transformation. And we believe that this patriotic transformation is going to come across the Atlantic and, in Europe, we will have a similar process," Nemeth explained.