EU Allowed Russia to Complete Its Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary – Szijjártó

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, said that the country received European Commission approval for Rosatom to build the only Hungarian nuclear power plant, Paks.

As reported by Euronews, the Hungarian Foreign Minister reminded that the contracts for new reactors at its Paks nuclear power plant were awarded nine years ago. During this time, the legal and technical became "somewhat obsolete."

In order to complete the construction as soon as possible, it is necessary to make changes to the contracts, the criteria of which were agreed in Moscow with the representatives of Rosatom. Budapest submitted the changes to the European Union for approval under European law, and the European Commission approved them on Wednesday.

Szijjártó said before the meeting of EU foreign ministers that the decision of the European Commission would speed up the Paks project and allow the commissioning of Paks-2 in the early 2030s.

"Nuclear energy is crucial for Hungary, and the construction of new Paks NPP units is a long-term guarantee of the security of Hungary's energy supply," he said.

The Paks II project is an expansion of the existing Paks NPP worth 12 billion euros under the leadership of Rosatom and is financed mainly by a Russian state loan. Last year, the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority issued a permit for this project.

Paks is the only nuclear power plant in Hungary, which was extended to the 2030s after modernisation. According to the adopted energy strategy, Budapest is to increase nuclear energy generation.

This project is one of the reasons why Hungary actively opposes any sanctions against Russia's nuclear sector.