Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban agreed today that the construction of an oil pipeline between Serbia and Hungary is of strategic importance for both countries, the Serbian government announced. TRT.

Orban emphasized that it is not all about profit, but that one must think strategically.

"It is an investment that is of fundamental strategic importance for Hungary, because our lives may depend on it, and that is why I say that both countries will feel secure if this pipeline is built," the Hungarian prime minister said.

He stressed that he greatly values ​​experts, because essentially every investment is a matter of both expertise and finances – how long it will last, what are the economic indicators, what will be the benefits or profits.

"But if we think only about that, or rather that way, then nothing significant will happen in this region. Many joked about the gas pipeline between Slovakia and Hungary, and then experts said that there is a gas pipeline that supplies us from Ukraine and that no one will use that gas pipeline between Slovakia and Hungary, etc."

"And then the war in Ukraine started and now we don't have gas from Ukraine. If we didn't have a gas pipeline between Slovakia and Hungary, we wouldn't be able to supply ourselves with gas," Orbán pointed out.

He added that expert opinion is only one side of the story, but that one should know how to think strategically, based on a national strategy.

"So, President Vučić and I thought the same way when we were working on the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway or when we were building a gas pipeline. The same applies now to the oil pipeline. Energy is a system that must function, because if that system fails, then the entire economy fails," Orbán concludes.

President Vučić added that one should imagine what would have happened if they had not agreed a few years ago and jointly built the Balkan Stream or Turkish Stream gas pipeline, because that would have been a complete disaster for both Serbia and Hungary, as both countries would be left without gas.

"Just think if we hadn't made such a decision, if it weren't for someone in our chain for that, we would all have failed today. Just because of one wrong decision. We would have completely failed. We wouldn't have had any chance of having enough, not enough, but minimal amounts of gas," Vucic assessed.

He pointed out that those in power have a responsibility to think strategically.

"Imagine if we listened to our political opponents or Viktor listened to his. You know, whoever is in power must have responsibility, must think about life. He must think about making sure his citizens don't freeze, think about making sure his factories work," Vucic said.

He added that when it comes to energy, three days ago he spoke with Alexei Likhachev, the president of Rosatom from the Russian Federation, and before that with the French from EDF.

"We are thinking about how to introduce nuclear energy in the future. I admire Orban's vision. The man is working on PAKS-2. It will save Hungary in the future. There will not be enough electricity, you will have electric cars, there will be problems with water. No one will have enough electricity. Salvation for all citizens, salvation for the economy," Vučić assessed.

He added that he will beg and not ask how much for 3-5 percent in PAKS-2, but that he wants to take the knowledge and have Serbia start building a nuclear power plant as soon as possible, because it takes eight to 10 years.

"So that we can survive. Someone has to look to the future. Viktor had a vision. This pipeline is a small investment compared to these investments that I'm talking about. All these other investments are much bigger. And we connect with each other. Who will be in this or that position? "It is important that we and the Hungarians work together, cooperate, always be able to help each other," Vučić concluded.