PM Orbán’s new allies: French companies conquer Hungary and buy Budapest Airport?

The French want to do business in Hungary, while Hungarians want to establish good relationships with a great power of the European Union. Historically, that kind of cooperation showed up already once before. In 1920, the Hungarian government offered the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) to the French to keep more territories inhabited by Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin. Now, they would like to buy Budapest Airport with French investors.

Chilly French-Hungarian relationship takes a turn

According to telex.hu, French companies pop up in more and more business deals in Hungary. Framatome may supply Paks with nuclear fuel rods, and Veolia became active in Hungary’s energy sector. According to the latest newsletter of VSquare, the French Vinci Airports would partner with the Hungarian government in buying Budapest Airport at the end of this year.

The relationship between Hungary and France was chilly after the regime change. That is because of historical reasons: the peace treaty of Trianon, during which Hungary lost 2/3rd of its territories and 1/3rd of the Hungarian communities, was France’s will. After 1989, French companies came to Hungary in the cafeteria, construction, and energy sectors but lost ground and left loudly by initiating several legal procedures against the state.

Following negotiations between PM Orbán and President Macron, all of that changed. FM Péter Szijjártó slammed German Siemens and called the French Framatome Hungary’s friend. In the energy sector, Veolia became co-owner of the company operating the CHP Power Plant in Budapest. Their partner was Fidesz spin doctor Árpád Habony’s business circle. Rumours started circulating about a cooperation in the acquisition of Budapest Airport.

Read also:

• New flight will connect Budapest and France – Read more HERE
• Air France to launch 18 flights between Budapest and Paris!

Budapest Airport purchase: only technicalities are ahead

The airport is now in the ownership of the German AviAlliance. Vinci Airports operates 65 airgates in 13 countries. HERE is a list of them. It includes airports in Central and South America and even Japan. Based on the newsletter, Orbán wanted to cooperate with Qatar, Chinese, etc. partners. But the EU exercised some pressure not to do so. Interestingly, sources said that Vinci would become a minority owner but would give more money than its possible share rate would indicate.

However, they would get the management rights and could operate the airport. Telex sources said the German owner and the Hungarian government had a deal concerning the price, but only some technicalities remained open. The deadline for presenting the purchase framework is this December.

What happened between France and Hungary is a diplomatic miracle. In 2021, the bank of Orbán’s friend, Lőrinc Mészáros, supported Macron’s competitor, Marine Le Pen with loans. In return, Macron said he sympathised with the Hungarian opposition before the 2022 elections. Months later, everything turned upside down. Telex wrote that turn could be at least partly thanked to the previous French ambassador, Pascale Andréani, who works for Framatome. And one of her designated tasks was to lubricate French-Hungarian nuclear cooperation.