Hungary will veto any proposed European Union (EU) sanctions against Russia that affect the nuclear sector, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned this Friday in Budapest.
“We are vetoing sanctions that are against Hungarian interests. In the case of nuclear energy, this will also happen,” Orbán said in his weekly speech on public radio Kossuth.
A restriction on nuclear cooperation between the European Union and Russia would have consequences for the expansion of the Hungarian Paks plant, which will be carried out by the Russian state-owned company Rosatom with a Russian investment of 12.5 billion euros.
Orbán, who is considered an ally of Moscow in the EU, said EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have already resulted in losses of about €9.7 billion.
According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the sanctions are paralyzing the EU, as they have caused the price hikes that the countries of the community are currently facing.
In December, Hungary registered the highest year-on-year inflation rate in the EU at 24.5%, although Orbán today assured that by the end of 2023 “it will be down to single digits”.
The Hungarian Prime Minister further promised that Hungary will not get involved in the war as long as he is in power.
“If someone sends weapons to one of the warring factions, or funds their budget, they can say what they want, but they are at war,” he said.
Orbán said the Hungarian government was under pressure to be forced into war, but without specifying whom he was referring to.
“Everything must be done to achieve peace,” Orbán said, recalling that hundreds of thousands of people have already died since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Source: DN
