Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary and Slovakia are jointly protesting a proposal from Brussels and Kyiv that would threaten Central Europe's energy security.

After a meeting with his Slovak counterpart in Bratislava on Friday, Juraj Blanar, Minister Szijjártó said the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would put the energy security of both Hungary and Slovakia at risk while raising utilities costs "by a brutal degree".

Minister Szijjártó added that, because of the way infrastructure for energy deliveries had developed in Central Europe over the decades, some countries there could not ensure a secure supply without Russian oil and gas.

"We are not willing to allow Hungarians to pay the price of the Von der Leyen-Zelenksy Plan. We are not willing to allow Brussels to make Hungarian families pay the price of further support for Kyiv," he said.

Minister Szijjártó added that Hungary and Slovakia would protest, together, against the proposal at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in the coming week.