BUDAPEST, May 29. /TASS/. Gas pipelines in Europe should be built as Bulgaria is doing and not closed as Ukraine did, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said.

The minister visited the city of Kresna, where the ceremony of starting construction of a gas pipeline between Bulgaria and Greece was held. It will be an element of the "vertical corridor" for feedstock supplies from Hellenic seaports to Central Europe.

"Gas pipelines should not be closed, as Ukraine did it. New ones should be built, as Bulgaria is doing. While Ukraine put us in a difficult situation, Bulgaria reliably and responsibly provides for transportation off energy resources to Hungary," Szijjarto wrote on his page in Facebook (banned in Russia, owned by Meta recognized as extremist in Russia).

"We are receiving almost 21 mln cubic meters of gas per day via Balkans, without which supplies to our country would not be possible. Bulgaria is now building a new gas pipeline, with which we will connect via Romania," the minister said. The capacity of the interconnector pipeline on the border between the two countries will be required to be increased again.

Energy security of Central and Southeastern Europe is a critical problem for the entire continent, the minister stressed. "We therefore urge the European Commission to provide funding for infrastructure development in the region and not to lay plans of undermining security of energy supplies," Szijjarto added.