Hungary’s Jobbik party leader notes security threat in cooperation with Rosatom, calling for sanctions on latter

Cooperation with the Russian Concern Rosatom poses a serious threat to Hungary’s security and is unacceptable from a moral standpoint. There should be EU sanctions against Rosatom, while cooperation between Hungary and Rosatom in the framework of the construction of the power unit for the Paks nuclear power plant should be stopped.

This was stated in a commentary to Guildhall by Member of the European Parliament from Hungary, president of the right-wing radical party Jobbik, Márton Gyöngyösi.

“It is necessary (to impose sanctions against Rosatom and freeze the company’s projects in the EU - ed.), since Rosatom is part of the Russian defense industry, a sector that the EU seeks to sanction,” the politician said, according to a report posted in Russian.

“Since you mentioned the Paks NPP deal in Hungary, let me clarify my position on this issue as a Hungarian MEP. Planning for the expansion of the Paks NPP (Hungary's only nuclear power plant - ed.) began about 10 years ago. For historical reasons, the current power unit of the plant was built by Russian engineers, with echnical assistance from Russia, in socialist times. In those days, we were still long before the war – it seemed a logical decision to enlarge the plant with the same Russian equipment. However, even back then, I criticized the Hungarian government for the serious non-transparency in the contract with Rosatom,” he said.

“Now, ten years on, Russia is waging war against Ukraine and openly threatening the European Union. Therefore, the EU decided to impose sanctions on Russia and its military industry. In this regard, I see no possibility of further cooperation between Hungary and Rosatom for two main reasons. The first is a matter of politics and defense: cooperation with such a company poses a serious security threat and is unacceptable from a moral standpoint. The second point is technical: Rosatom cannot guarantee the implementation of the project without Western partners,” summed up the MEP.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Center for Defense Reforms published a study showing that, in addition to participating in civilian nuclear energy projects, the Russian concern Rosatom is an important component of the Russian military-industrial complex, including due to being engaged in the production and operation of nuclear weapons.

Earlier, in the Bundestag, a deputy from the Union 90/Greens party, head of the European Committee of the German Parliament, Anton Hofreiter, called for raising the issue of sanctions against Rosatom.