Szijjártó seeks exemption from US sanctions affecting construction of Hungary's new nuclear plant

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, held talks with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in Budapest on Thursday. The Foreign Minister broadcast the press conference that followed their talks on his Facebook page.

Szijjártó said that "the government has requested an exemption for the Paks II project (the construction of Hungary's second nuclear power plant -TN) from the sanctions imposed by the previous US administration out of political revenge, which make it difficult for the project to move forward". According to the Foreign Minister, there have been several ideological debates on nuclear energy lately, but Hungary "refuses to approach energy issues on ideological grounds". He said the only way for Europe to regain its competitiveness was to first restore its ability to use common sense. According to Szijjártó, nuclear energy is the way to achieve this.

He also said that Hungary was working on expanding its nuclear capacity and wanted to extend the lifetime of the current Paks power plant by 20 years, for which preparations were already underway. He said that the construction of the new reactor units has already begun and that the agency is continuously monitoring this process.

"I must mention, however, that a few days before he left the White House, the outgoing Biden administration imposed a series of sanctions out of political revenge, which make it difficult for the Paks project to move forward. The Foreign Minister was referring to the fact that the expansion of the Paks power plant was not exempted from the sanctions against Russia's Gazprombank.

“It is precisely for this reason that last week in Washington I had negotiations about an exemption for the Paks II project in order to ensure Hungary's future energy supplies, as the work is already underway and has passed the point where it could be reversed.”

– Szijjártó said, adding that "granting the exemption is not only necessary from the point of view of security of the country's energy supply, but also for reasons of nuclear safety". Szijjártó argued that energy security is a sovereignty issue. "Therefore, if there will be sanctions packages in the European Union in the future, we will continue to ensure that they do not contain provisions affecting the nuclear industry," the Foreign Minister said. Szijjártó said that Europe's physical security is closely linked to nuclear security. He also said that Hungary appreciates the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency, because it can simultaneously communicate with the Ukrainians and the Russians.

Meanwhile, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union has proposed that the Court should annul the court ruling upholding the Commission's decision to approve the assistance granted by Hungary for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Paks.

Russia is building Paks II in Hungary, but the investment may cost much more than originally planned. A government proposal was published last November which would allow the project to cost thousands of billions of forints more.