Hungary to Veto EU Nuclear Sanctions against Russia

Hungary will veto European Union sanctions against Russia affecting nuclear power, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday, Reuters reported.

Ukraine has called on the EU to include Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom in the sanctions, but Hungary, home to a Russian-built nuclear power plant that it plans to expand with Rosatom's help, has blocked that.

Orban reiterated in an interview that nuclear sanctions "obviously should be vetoed."

"We will not allow the plan to include nuclear power in the sanctions to be implemented," the Hungarian prime minister stressed, adding: "That is out of the question."

Hungary has repeatedly criticized EU sanctions against Moscow over its incursion into neighboring Ukraine, saying they have failed to significantly weaken Russia but risk destroying the European economy.

The West has not imposed sanctions on Rosatom since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

The Hungarian nuclear power plant Paks has four small Russian VVER 440 reactors with a total capacity of about 2,000 megawatts, which started operating between 1982 and 1987.

This power plant produces nearly half of Hungary's electricity and receives nuclear fuel from Russia.

Under an agreement signed in 2014 with Moscow, Hungary intends to expand the plant with two Russian VVER reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each.

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