Is there more to Hungarian Presidential visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG) than the meets the eye?
This is the question we ask after analyzing local media reports on state visit by President of Republic of Hungary, Her Excellency, Katalin Novak.
From the top, Prime Minister Marape has given a very shallow comment on the visit which was religiously reported by the local media with the only exception of Post Courier speculating on potential bilateral agendas up for discussion.
“Hungary is an established country in Europe, within the European Union, and President Novak’s visit consolidates our relationship with Hungary.
“We look forward to President Novak’s visit, and will do our utmost best to ensure that she is given a warm welcome. We will give Her Excellency the full treatment as we have given to every Head of State and Head of Government who has visited us over the past”
There will be bilateral discussions for sure, but at this moment, we don’t know what the agendas are and Prime Minister failed to offer that direction to people of PNG, the critical government institutions and most importantly the wider business and investment community in PNG.
That now leaves doors open wide for speculation. One which is more apparent is the energy crises in Europe due to Russia-Ukraine war.
Europe has been heavily dependent on natural gas imports, with a significant portion of its gas supply coming from Russia. The most commonly used route for Russian gas to reach Europe is through pipelines that run across Ukraine.
Disputes over gas pricing, transit fees, and political tensions between the two countries have led to several gas supply interruptions in the past.
Previous gas disputes between Russia and Ukraine resulted in interruptions in the supply of natural gas to European countries, particularly during the winters. These disruptions raised concerns about the reliability of Russian gas deliveries to Europe.
Are the European countries looking for alternative cheaper energy options apart from Russia? Highly likely.
PNG’s energy sector is currently undergoing a significant transition. These are PNG’s entry into the family of LNG-producing nations in 2014 and the announcement at APEC 2018 of the PNG Electrification Partnership as reported by Business Advantage PNG.
The transition has put PNG on world map and there is no doubt, Europe is watching the progress closely.
We can only speculate that there is more to the recent state visit by the Hungarian President than the eyes meet and that Hungary might be considering cheaper energy option from PNG.
