Hungary wants the European Union to make clear to the two sides in the gas dispute, Russia and Ukraine, that they are failing to honour their obligations under contract to supply European consumers with gas, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said.

The consequences of the row between the two countries cannot be allowed to be thrust upon a third country, Gyurcsány said.

Gyurcsány said that he would take the same message to a meeting of the Visegrád Four in Bratislava on Thursday.

Mirek Topolanek, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, which currently holds the revolving EU presidency, will be at the meeting, as will European Commission President Manuel Barroso.

We cannot decide who is right in the dispute between Russian and Ukraine, but, once an agreement is reached, we would like for the EU and member states to monitor the two sides to ensure it is kept, Gyurcsány said. Hungary wants to participate in the group that monitors gas deliveries between the two countries, he added.

Gyurcsány proposed that if financial problems are one of the reasons for Kiev's reluctance, EU money should be used to help overcome these problems, if Ukraine asks for it.

Hungary has pushed hard for the integration of the region's energy networks since 2006, Gyurcsány said. Hungary will take the issue - one in which it wants to play a key role - to Bratislava.

First the region's gas networks must be connected, then the electricity networks, he said. If the networks are united, everybody can use reserves, raising the security of supply. (MTI – Econews)