LMP: Referendum sole opportunity for Hungarians to state opinion on Paks

Budapest, March 8 (MTI) – Opposition LMP sees a referendum as the only chance for Hungarians to thwart the “corrupt project” to expand the Paks nuclear plant, the party’s co-leader said on Wednesday.

The European Commission greenlighted the Russian-backed investment on Monday.

LMP co-leader Bernadett Szel told a press conference that Brussels had “fallen to its knees” before an international coalition “formed in the shadow of the nuclear lobby” by Hungary’s Orbán government and Russian President Vladimir Putin whose aim was to “ruin” Hungary.

LMP has called on the public to start collecting signatures in order to ensure that the campaign gets under way as soon as the National Election Committee clears any of the party’s questions submitted in connection with the Paks project. LMP has submitted ten questions so far and is open to further suggestions from the public, she said.

At the same press conference, LMP board member Péter Ungár rejected legal arguments made by “institutions close to [ruling] Fidesz” that Hungarian laws prohibit calling a referendum on matters governed by an international agreement. In a previous referendum initiative on EU migrant quotas, the election committee did not cite the Dublin II regulation when approving a popular vote, he noted. Making reference to an international agreement in this current case would be applying double standards, he added.

Hungarians must have the chance to decide whether the source of electricity over the next 30-80 years should be nuclear or much safer renewables, said Ungar.

Construction work on the upgrade of Hungary’s sole nuclear power plant is due to start next year.

Source: MTI