Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday in Bregana dismissed the “false theses” of Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto that Croatia is a war profiteer because it “exploits Hungarians” and the wartime situation in the transit of crude oil, asserting that Croatia is a good neighbor.
“I indignantly reject the false theses of the Hungarian Foreign Minister that Croatia is some kind of war profiteer,” Plenković stated in a media statement at the ceremony celebrating Customs Service Day and the presentation of the Advanced Training Center of the Customs Administration in Bregana.
“On the contrary, Croatia is a good, honest neighbor. A neighbor that wants to use its energy infrastructure capacities, which is our critical infrastructure, to ensure the security and supply of our neighboring countries during this significant energy crisis,” he emphasized.
Szijjarto earlier on Friday accused Croatia of “exploiting Hungarians” and the wartime situation in the transit of crude oil, stating that Adriatic Pipeline (Janaf) does not have sufficient capacity for Hungarian needs.
“Unfortunately, we must admit that the Croats are exploiting us, profiting from the wartime situation. The Croats continue to charge us a war surcharge, as they have raised the transit fee five times higher than the European reference value since the beginning of the war,” Szijjarto said in New York, as reported by the Hungarian agency MTI.
Plenković, on the other hand, stated that the prices offered by Janaf are absolutely in line with all possible comparable prices at the level of the European Union and that Janaf’s policy itself has been “valued by independent experts.”
“Plus, a very simple logic in the market: the larger the order quantity of oil, the longer the contract term negotiated, the price will naturally be cheaper,” Plenković added.
