At the start of regular operation of the 2×400-kilovolt transmission line Cirkovce-Pince, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is coming to visit Slovenia, where he will meet his Slovenian colleague Robert Golob.
Orban he is coming to Slovenia for a visit just over two years after he was together with the previous Slovenian prime minister Janez Janšo and Croatian foreign ministers Gordan Grlić Radman symbolically marked the start of work on the construction of this 2×400-kilovolt transmission line, which represents the first system connection of the power grids of Slovenia and Hungary, while also connecting to the Croatian grid.
Orban is coming to Slovenia at a time when Hungary is subject to loud criticism because of its policy towards Russia in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine, or because of its positions when it comes to sanctions and other EU measures against the world’s largest country. Hungary does not want to jeopardize its close energy dependence on Russian gas and oil.
Negotiations have been going on since the 90s, construction took just under two years
Budapest is also under great pressure from Brussels due to violations of the principles of the rule of law and the insufficient fight against corruption, as a result of which 7.5 billion euros of cohesion funds for the eastern Slovenian neighbor are still frozen.
The details of the topics of the talks in Orban’s and Golob’s cabinets were not revealed, but according to the portal Necenzurirano, the project of the cross-border gas pipeline between Slovenia and Hungary from Kidričevo to Pinc was also on the table of the two prime ministers.
If the gas pipeline was initially intended for the transport of Russian gas to Italy, according to the portal, Orban’s wish is now for Hungary to eventually reduce its dependence on Russian gas, and through the gas pipeline’s connection to the Slovenian network, access to alternative sources would be ensured in Budapest gas via Italy and Slovenia.
Source: Rtvslo
