Cooperation between Moscow and Budapest has allowed Hungary to conduct the most successful vaccination campaign in the European Union.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó stated this at a press conference in Budapest, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Without the Sputnik V vaccine we would not have been able to carry out the most successful vaccination campaign in the European Union, so we would like to thank the Russian government and especially the Foreign Minister for their assistance.
A workshop for the production of the Sputnik V vaccine will also be built in Hungary. By the end of 2021, we will be able to transfer technology, so from the end of 2022 it will be possible to produce a vaccine under a Russian license,” Szijjarto said.
In addition, he noted that Hungary and Russia are in the final phase of signing a new fifteen-year gas supply contract.
“I would also like to note that our long-term gas supply agreement will soon expire, and we are ready to conclude a new agreement with Gazprom. We are currently in the final process of signing this agreement.
On Monday in St. Petersburg we will discuss the latest details of this agreement with Mr. Miller. I think that this fall we will be able to conclude a new fifteen-year agreement with good conditions in order to ensure the country’s energy security,” said the Hungarian minister.
In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Moscow and Budapest have a common opinion on the inadmissibility of politicizing the topic of production and use of vaccines.
“We consider our cooperation in the fight against coronavirus infection very significant and significant. Hungary was the first EU member to use, and successfully, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to immunize the population.
We are now discussing practical plans to begin production of the vaccine in Hungary. We have a common opinion that this issue and the state of affairs in the production and use of vaccines should not be allowed to be politicized, since any politicization will interfere with the main goal - victory over Covid-19 on a global scale,” Lavrov said.