The Poles have stopped buying gas from Gazprom because they believe that European prosperity can no longer be based on cheap Russian raw materials. However, as a country without a sea exit, Hungary is finding it more difficult to change its energy mix, according to a roundtable discussion organised by the Regional Cooperation Department of the Rector's Office of the Ludovika-University of Public Service (UPS) and the Wacław Felczak Foundation on 20 February.
The Polish-Hungarian discussion, held in the Ludovika Main Building of the UPS, was chaired by András Deák, Senior Research Fellow at the Strategic Defence Research Institute of the Eötvös József Research Centre of the UPS. First of all, the Rector's Adviser for Regional Cooperation of the University, former Ambassador of Hungary to Poland, welcomed the participants and conveyed the greetings of the Rector. Iván Gyurcsík introduced the guest of the event, Piotr Naimski. He told the audience that he used to promote bilateral relations as the chairman of the Hungarian-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Sejm. "For the past thousand years, Polish-Hungarian friendship has been smooth, but now we hear that this relationship has reached its lowest point," Karol Biernacki, President of the Wacław Felczak Foundation, began his speech. At the same time, he said, their organisation has a five-year mission to promote the Polish world in Hungary. He said that the current exchange of ideas was also created to help the invited experts to dispel misconceptions that could damage the centuries-old friendship.
According to Piotr Naimski, the current energy crisis is comparable to the oil crisis that started on 17 October 1973 and significantly reassessed the developed world's relationship with its fuel supply. The former Polish deputy minister for economic affairs added that the removal of dependencies will be permanent, as European prosperity can no longer be based on cheap Russian raw materials. While the West of Europe used to try to separate the issue of energy supply from geopolitical issues, this position has become untenable in times of war. Politics is no longer an obstacle to investments aimed at breaking dependencies. Poland is now completely free from the import monopoly imposed by Gazprom and can now decide for itself how to buy raw materials.
Text:Tibor Sarnyai
Photo: Dénes Szilágyi