Paks Nuclear Plant Upgrade: E14-PM Activists Climb To Presidential Palace Balcony

Budapest, February 9 (MTI) – Three demonstrators climbed onto the presidential Sandor palace’s balcony today morning as part of a demonstration organised by the E14-PM alliance against the Paks nuclear upgrade.

Police took the three, and five others who helped them by holding their ladders in place, to district police stations for questioning.

The three demonstrators put up banners on the balcony while removing the national and European Union flags from their holders. The banners read: “the people should decide! Referendum on Paks!” and “Why are you afraid of a referendum?”.

Slogans chanted during the demonstration, organised by the electoral movement E14-PM, included “Referendum on Paks” – referring to the nuclear upgrade agreement endorsed by parliament on Thursday.

Rebeka Szabo, an independent lawmaker and E14-PM politician, said after the demonstration that it was to ask President Janos Ader not to sign the law on the Paks upgrade and to call a referendum instead.

The ruling Fidesz party said the “Gyurcsany-coalition” was completely negligible regarding its views on Paks. A statement sent to MTI by the party said the organisers had used the issue of Hungary’s energy security for campaign gains. Before 2010 the Socialists had supported nuclear upgrade plans and it has also transpired that the nuclear plant was the site of Socialist “pay-outs”.

The deputy chairman of the Christian Democrats called the demonstration “unserious, tasteless and aggressive”. Bence Retvari told a press conference that there was no credibility in E14-PM’s protest as earlier the alliance’s politicians supported the upgrade.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://hungarymatter.hu/