Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the United States administration has lifted the sanctions related to the upgrade of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant.
Prior to US President Donald Trump’s return to office, the previous administration led by Joe Biden, "which saw Hungary as an enemy", had made several "politically-motivated decisions" that had put Hungary in a difficult situation, including the sanctions introduced after the defeat of the Democratic Party in last year’s election, Minister Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement.
"One of these sanctions had aimed to make Hungary’s long-term energy security impossible by introducing restrictions related to the construction of the Paks nuclear power plant that had made it practically impossible to continue the construction works," the minister said.
"Fortunately, since January, there is a president in the White House who considers Hungary a friend," Minister Szijjártó said. "It was in this spirit that the US administration lifted the sanctions related to the Paks nuclear plant project."
"We are grateful to President Donald Trump and the Republican administration for this, because the Paks upgrade project guarantees Hungary’s long-term energy security and maintains regulated utility prices," Minister Szijjártó said.
He said the Paks upgrade would allow Hungary to produce most of the electricity needed to meet the country’s and the economy’s electricity demand from the middle of the next decade.
"The production of the large equipment needed for the Paks nuclear power plant is ongoing in Russia and France," Minister Szijjártó said, adding that the construction works at Paks "can now gain new momentum".
He said that if Hungary had been unable to continue the project, it would have become vulnerable in terms of its long-term energy supply, and Hungarians would have had to pay several times the current utility prices.
"So President Donald Trump and his administration have helped Hungary with this," Minister Szijjártó said. "At the same time, we still have to fight another battle in Brussels in order for us to be able to keep buying cheap oil and natural gas, but we will fight that battle, too, and succeed."