The European Union must give solid support for the ambitious Nabucco gas pipeline project, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Friday following a crisis over Russian gas imports this month.
Speaking ahead of a conference on Nabucco in the Hungarian capital next week, Gyurcsany told the MTI news agency that one of the meeting's main goals was to secure financial and political backing from the E.U.
"We expect the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank to make a clearer commitment to pre-financing the project," the premier said.
"This project is not purely about business but also about Europe's energy security. It is therefore vital to make sure we have resources that are backed and guaranteed by the E.U.," he added.
Nabucco is a 3,400-kilometer pipeline between Turkey and Austria aimed at transporting up to 31 billion cubic meters of gas each year from the Caspian Sea to western Europe, bypassing Russia and Ukraine.
The project has been seen as all the more important for ensuring Europe's independence from Russian gas after most of the continent found vital supplies cut off this month during a pricing dispute between Moscow and Kiev.
Nabucco has been slow to get off the ground because key issues - such as financing and where the gas would actually come from - have yet to be agreed.
If European institutions show support for the project, that would send a positive signal to other investors, Hungarian government sources said.
The meeting on Jan. 26 and 27 will be attended by energy ministers and government leaders from Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Iraq, Romania and Turkey.
Representing the E.U. will be Energy Commissioner for Andris Pielbags and Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in his capacity of current E.U. president.