Hungary to oppose any EU nuclear sanctions against Russia: Foreign minister
Sanctions have taken EU to a dead end and 'harm us Europeans more than the Russians,' says Peter Szijjarto
Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto ( Fatih Aktaş - Anadolu Agency )
BELGRADE, Serbia
Hungary will not support any sanctions by the European Union that restrict Hungarian-Russian nuclear cooperation, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Monday.
Szijjarto's remarks came at a meeting of the foreign ministers of EU countries in Brussels.
"We will not support any step, no matter how small, that restricts Hungarian-Russian nuclear cooperation,'' Szijjarto said of a new sanctions package planned by the EU against Russia.
He said sanctions harm the bloc more than they do Russia.
"Sanctions have taken the EU to a dead end. Sanctions harm us Europeans more than the Russians. Everyone can see that. This is not a political statement, it's a fact," said Szijjarto.
According to Szijjarto, the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, Hungary’s only nuclear plant, produces half of the country’s electricity needs, so his country is dependent on nuclear power.
A deal was signed in 2022 with Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom for the construction of two nuclear reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant site.
