Hungarian Prime Minister Orban vows to veto sanctions against Russia’s nuclear power industry

Any proposed EU sanctions against Russia’s nuclear power industry will be vetoed by Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.

Speaking with Kossuth radio on Friday, January 27, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that his country would veto if the European Union tried to impose sanctions on Russia’s nuclear industry. The head of state said he believed that Hungary will face a ‘big battle’ in Brussels over this.

He insisted to the station that his country is categorically against the extension of European sanctions on Russian nuclear energy.

“We will not allow sanctions that further increase Hungarian inflation. The most important thing here is the price of energy. Therefore, we will not allow the plan to extend sanctions to nuclear energy as well”, Orban stressed.

According to the politician, Hungary “does not support” anti-Russian sanctions at all. Orban added though hat he would not interfere in their adoption if they “do not touch the nerves”. Some restrictions harm Hungarian interests, so “we must use the right of veto”, he pointed out.

Orban is confident that Hungary will face a ‘big battle’ in Brussels because of the EU’s desire to impose sanctions against Russia’s nuclear power industry. In addition, the politician cited data, according to which 97 per cent of the participants in the national consultation in the country do not support the idea of ​​such restrictions.

Nine years ago, it was decided to build two new units at this NPP under the VVER-1200 project. Russia promised to give Hungary a loan of up to €10 billion for Paks-2, with a total project cost of €12.5 billion. Work is expected to begin this autumn.

Peter Szijjarto, the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, claimed that the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in Hungary was being hindered by German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock and German Economy Minister Robert Habek from the Green Party. He insisted they were not issuing permission to Siemens to supply a process control system.

“The French export authority has given permission to Framatome for the supply of control systems, and two ‘green’ ministers of the German government are blocking the issuance of such a permit to Siemens Energy, and this is unacceptable”, Szijjarto said.

Szijjarto previously said that without a nuclear power plant, it is impossible to provide the country’s energy supply. As a result, Hungary would not support any restrictions that could hinder cooperation with Russia in this area he added, as reported by gazeta.ru.

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