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“Not sacrificable”: Civilians protest Samsung battery plant pollution in Budapest
Hundreds of civilians gathered in Budapest on Sunday to protest the environmental and health risks posed by Hungary’s battery industry, focusing on the controversial Samsung plant in Göd. Organised by Greenpeace Hungary, the aHang petition platform, and the Göd-ÉRT Association, the demonstration took place in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade at Bem Square under the banner “Not Sacrificable.”
Protest focuses on corporate and government accountability
The protest was sparked by investigative reporting from Telex, which revealed that the Göd plant repeatedly exceeded legal safety limits for nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) dust (sometimes by more than 500 times!), posing serious health risks to workers. According to company records obtained by Telex, in one area of the factory, concentrations of these toxic substances far surpassed legal thresholds, potentially resulting in fatal exposure.
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Speakers emphasised that the issue extends beyond Göd. The Göd-ÉRT Association noted that Hungary hosts 51 battery-related facilities across 39 settlements, with 27 classified as high-risk “upper-threshold” plants. “This could happen anywhere, at any time,” said one representative, citing parallels with other controversial industrial cases in Hungary.
“Decisions prioritise industry interests over citizens’ right to health”
Andrea Szaszkó, vice president of Göd-ÉRT, said the main lesson was that political decisions often prioritise industry interests over citizens’ right to health. Judit Hlavács, also from Göd-ÉRT, condemned what she described as years of local frustration ignored by the authorities, holding high-level officials, including Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, responsible.
Éva Kozma, from the Mikepércs Mothers’ Association, warned that the Göd plant is “the horse of the battery industry” and noted that similar facilities are being built on a larger scale elsewhere, including Debrecen. Gergő Simon, a chemical expert with Greenpeace, highlighted that authorities had repeatedly failed to prevent industrial pollution, citing multiple violations detected as early as 2022 and dozens of workers who later fell ill.
According to Telex, activist and actor Áron Molnár addressed the crowd directly, criticising the government for ignoring citizen concerns and
urging voters to take note of environmental issues ahead of elections.
A civil representative from Szolnok spoke against a proposed Chinese electrolyte plant near the city, warning that such facilities should be built at least 50 kilometres away from populated areas.
Allegations of government inaction
Reporting by 24.hu highlighted that, according to sources, government agencies (including the National Security Office and the National Information Centre) conducted secret investigations into the repeated violations at Göd. The findings reportedly reached several ministers, some of whom called for the plant’s closure. However, Prime Minister Gergely Gulyás dismissed media reports as “campaign fake news,” and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó filed a complaint against Telex.
The demonstrators insisted that the government had long been aware of the dangers posed by the Samsung plant but had failed to act, effectively putting workers and the surrounding environment at risk. Gergő Simon stressed that the pollution not only affected employees but also spread into the wider environment, with the factory operating for months without proper environmental permits.
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Systemic issues: It’s not only about Göd
Organisers concluded that the protest was not merely about Göd but a warning about systemic issues in Hungary’s battery industry: a pattern of secrecy, downplaying violations, silencing whistleblowers, and shifting responsibility.
Check out some photos of the protest in Telex’s and 24.hu’s report.
Featured image: illustration, depositphotos.com
Nice.
Do you know, which was the only party, that was consistent in opposition to these firms?
It was Mi Hazánk. One of their mayors even got a sentence for trying to block the building of such factories.
So guess who this helps politically?
Not the “Messiah of Degeneracy”. It’s the anti-globalist forces: Mi Hazánk. And the stronger they get, the closer we get to leave the EU tyranny. So yeah, it’s a good development.
Yes, it would seem as if the only sincere entity, withing Hungary, opposing the power of the Internal Bankers and Corporations is Mi Házank.
I could not imagine being a Hungarian and not actively supporting Mi Hazánk.
Totally illogical.
That said, there is wisdom to having Chinese factories in Hungary, as this is the defence equivalent of 10 army divisions, which, currently, Hungary does not have.
So, many in Hungary seem to fail to see that this sort of economic policy is not part of an Orbán globalist economic policy, but, rather, a defence policy that, in hosting industry from one big power, helps to thwart the desire of the other big powers to swallow Hungary.
A policy of sovereignty preservation, using diplomacy and economic aspects to cover up for the shortfall in men, arms, and money to equip them.
Neverthelsss, The Left is right to insist on health and environmental regulations being adhered to.
No excuses. No deflection about “globalists”, George Soros or any other crap Fidesz promoters want to push. This big stinking mess was created and promoted by Fidesz. They brought the most polluting, the most environmentally degrading and dangerous factories you can have. Here is your “Golden Age”.