Orban meets Rosatom's director, discuss nuclear energy cooperation.

The director of Russia's state-owned energy company Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, arrived in Budapest for talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the news portal Telex reported[1] on June 5. The two discussed cooperation on the expansion of Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant. "Both Rosatom and the Hungarian Government aim to ensure the commissioning of the new Paks units by the beginning of the next decade," said Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who was also present at the talks.

Belarus Weekly: Hungarian foreign minister, German right-wing MP visit Belarus

In February 2015, the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia met in Minsk to hold talks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Following the 15-hour-long talks, the second Minsk Agreement was reached, intended to stop Russia's war in Ukraine's east. The agreement envisioned a ceas...

Szijjarto said[3] on May 25 the European Union approved changes to the contract between Budapest and Rosatom intended to speed up the expansion.

According to the foreign minister, many "international actors" are trying to slow down or block the project, which constitutes an attack on Hungary's sovereignty and an obstacle to its energy security. Budapest complained on Feb.

24 that the German government was blocking[4] the export of control equipment for the plant. In contrast, the French government has reportedly[5] allowed its state-backed nuclear power operator subsidiary Framatome to participate in the project along Rosatom.

Budapest gave[6] permission to Rosatom to work on the Paks power plant in August 2022, only a few months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ reported (telex.hu)
2. ^ Belarus Weekly: Hungarian foreign minister, German right-wing MP visit BelarusIn February 2015, the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia met in Minsk to hold talks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

   Following the 15-hour-long talks, the second Minsk Agreement was reached, intended to stop Russia's war in Ukraine's east.

   The agreement envisioned a ceas... (kyivindependent.com)

3. ^ said (www.reuters.com)
4. ^ blocking (www.reuters.com)
5. ^ reportedly (kyivindependent.com)
6. ^ gave (t.me)