Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Monday that banning the purchase of nuclear fuel elements from Russia "would have tragic consequences not only for Hungary but for the whole of the European energy market, too", adding that prices would sky-rocket and have a deleterious effect on Europe's economy.
Minister Szijjártó said electricity in Europe costs 2-3 times as much as it does in US or China, while gas is around 4 times as expensive. "Obviously you can't build a competitive economy this way," he added in a ministry statement.
"But there's still a chance to prevent these Brussels plans" by responding to the government's Vote 2025 survey on the question of Ukraine's EU accession, he said. "It's time to stop this Brussels plan to support Ukraine while increasing the utility bills of Hungarian families several times over," he added.
The minister noted that several central European countries have nuclear plants that use Russian technology and operate exclusively with Russian-made fuel elements.