LMP calls on Orbán to cancel Paks upgrade contract

Budapest, February 16 (MTI) – Green opposition LMP called on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to cancel the contract on the planned upgrade of the Paks nuclear power station during his Wednesday visit to Moscow.

Orbán “should behave as the prime minister of the Hungarian people and not as an agent of Rosatom,” co-leader Bernadett Szél told a press conference.

She said the contract was signed two years ago and the Hungarian public still knows little about it.

In line with what Szél called a “shameful nuclear pact”, the Hungarian state is expected to pay all extra costs, so the Russians’ interest lies in building a power station at the highest possible cost. A government elected for four years should not undertake such a large and long-term obligation, she added.

Szél also criticised the 700 million forints (EUR 2.26m) spent on communications about the expansion so far, stating that the majority of this money has been paid to the right-leaning media. The green sector has been neglected since the signing of the contract and, despite projections by Orbán’s experts, energy prices have not increased either.

Hungary has even undertaken the foreign policy risk of coming into conflict with the European Union, she said, adding that the deteriorating economic situation in Russia gives cause for further concern.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters