Hungary will veto any EU sanctions against Russia’s nuclear sector, the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban Told friday.
“We will not allow sanctions that will further increase Hungary’s inflation,” he told state radio, “I will not allow nuclear power to be included in the scope of the sanctions.”
The Hungarian leader’s comments come as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are pushing hard for sanctions against Russia’s nuclear industry and state-run company Rosatom, according to a document seen by POLITICO.
The commission has yet to make a formal proposal but is calling for a 10th sanctions package against Moscow, aimed at timing it with the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The bloc’s ambassadors are set to begin fresh discussions on the sanctions on Friday.
Moscow’s nuclear sector has so far avoided approval by the European Union, as Rosatom still supplies fuel to reactors in several member states, including Finland And Bulgaria,
Pak nuclear power plant of Hungary – which is found 40 percent Hungary’s electricity needs – also powered by Russian nuclear fuel – while Rosatom is currently partnering with Budapest to build two additional reactors at the facility.