Another battery plant planned near Pécs, Hungary? Opposition demands answers

The opposition Párbeszéd-Greens have written to the minister of foreign affairs and trade asking him to clarify if the government is planning any investments related to battery production in a greenfield area near Pécs, in southern Hungary, which was recently reclassified as an industrial area.

A few days ago, the official gazette Magyar Közlöny published a decree declaring certain land areas near Pécs as targets for investment, Párbeszéd parliamentary group leader Tímea Szabó told a press briefing on Wednesday.

She said it was as yet unknown what kind of industrial investments were planned for the “highly valuable agricultural area”, adding that the area was only 10km from the city’s drinking water base and new projects there were potentially hazardous.

Questions such as which investors have approached the government, who owns the newly classified areas, were local councils involved in the decisions, and were locals consulted must be answered, she added.