Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, acknowledged Bulgaria's efforts to enhance energy security and diversify supply at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Vertical Gas Corridor on Thursday.

"We believe that pipelines shouldn't be shut down, but new ones built, and the capacity of existing ones increased, as Bulgaria is doing," Minister Szijjártó said.

The foreign minister added that the situation in Central Europe with regard to energy supply had worsened since Ukraine ceased gas transit deliveries.

Minister Szijjártó said the Vertical Gas Corridor would give Hungary a new delivery route for gas, via Romania, adding that an expansion of the interconnector capacity between the two countries' gas networks was back on the agenda.

Minister Szijjártó said Bulgaria was a reliable transit partner, delivering over 20 million cubic metres of gas a day to Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline.

Energy security in Central and Southeast Europe is a "vital matter" for the whole continent, he said, adding that Hungary had pressed the European Commission for financing for energy infrastructure in the region, "instead of drafting plans for how to ruin the security of the region's energy supply".