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PM Orbán expects clear stance from EC on nuclear energy's role in climate protection

The prime minister said he expected a clear stance by the EC as to which nuclear energy is recognized as sustainable green energy and energy produced from gas is temporarily accepted.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that he expected a clear stance by the European Commission as to which nuclear energy is recognized as sustainable green energy and energy produced from gas is temporarily accepted. A position like that could facilitate developments across Europe that could boost the nuclear industry, PM Orbán told an international press briefing. Currently banks will not provide loans at all or only with a high interest rate to support such projects as nuclear technologies are not recognised as sustainable, he argued, adding that those technologies could ensure Europe’s energy supplies for the long run.

On another subject, PM Orbán said Hungary stood by its border protection system and the country would “not let anyone in”. He said the government had weighed the possibilities following a decision by the country’s Constitutional Court regarding a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that found Hungarian legislation on rules and practices in transit zones on the country’s border with Serbia violating EU rules on asylum. “We will not do anything to change our border protection system and will maintain the existing regime, even if the European court has told us to change it. We will not change it and will not let anyone in,” the prime minister said. In the decision, taken earlier in December, Hungary’s top court confirmed that the government must defend Hungary’s constitutional identity; it stated that if EU institutions do not exercise shared competencies effectively, the Hungarian authorities may exercise them; and it asserted that the relationship between migration and human dignity must be examined from the perspective of the country’s existing, historical population.

Photo credit: MTI