France & Hungary say 'no sense' in sanctions on Russian nuclear energy

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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, on Tuesday, following a meeting with French Minister for Energy Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher that both Hungary and France argued against imposing sanctions on nuclear cooperation with Russia.

"Together we fought hard for the EU to classify nuclear energy as sustainable and together we are fighting against discrimination against nuclear energy ... We both agree that it makes no sense to impose sanctions on nuclear cooperation with Russia," Szijjarto said.

In parallel, Szijjarto highlighted that France's Framatome has been an active participant in the construction of units pertaining to the Paks-2 nuclear power plant (NPP) in Hungary.

"Successful investments in Paks are a basis for a long-lasting and reliable energy supply to Hungary," said the Hungarian FM adding "that is why we are grateful to the French government for allowing Framatome to install an instrumentation and control systems for the new Paks nuclear power plant."

EU should end sanctions against Russia: Hungary PM

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban stressed on January 13 that the European Union's sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war are a mistake and should be ended.

Speaking to Hungarian state radio, Orban considered that if the anti-Russian sanctions are lifted, energy prices and inflation would fall in half, adding that a political decision must be taken by the EU in this regard.

"It is certain that America won the war and Europe lost. There’s a debate over whether Russia won or lost. If we talk in terms of money, we can’t say that Russia lost too much,'' the Hungarian Prime Minister pointed out.

Orban argued that his country lacks the power to end the sanctions on Russia on its own and that big states such as Germany or France could.

The Hungarian leader had said that the Western sanctions were unsuccessful in destabilizing Russia and dealt a substantial blow to Europe itself.

In mid-November, Orban warned that European economies are rapidly heading toward recession and that Europe "doesn’t have the will to determine its own foreign policy" because it follows the US’ lead.

Read more: Hungarian FM: 'No body can tell us from the outside how to live'