Aleksandar Vucic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has met in Budapest with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to discuss crucial energy issues, including gas supplies in the future and activities of Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.
After the state dinner in the evening on Oct. 20 hosted by Orban for Vucic and Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, the Serbian president told reporters that they had also discussed how the two countries could facilitate easier access to ports for ships sailing under other flags, “in order to provide citizens with access to sufficient amount of all lubricants and oil derivatives.”
“We discussed bilateral relations in all spheres, concluding they are at an exceptional level and that we are very loyal friends. Today, it is difficult to find friends who cherish closer ties than Serbs and Hungarians,” Vucic said.
He also said that MOL had been helping Serbia and that it would be importing more derivatives, and would not be importing crude oil because it was not clear for how long the refinery in Pancevo would be able to operate, due to the US sanctions against oil and gas company Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS).
Commenting on the Council of the European Union opinion that the import of Russian gas to the EU countries should be prohibited as of Jan. 1, 2026, including the transit through the EU to third countries, Vucic said it was “not good news” for Serbia, but added that he would seek and find a solution, stressing that “people should not worry.”
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