Even Fidesz Voted to Halt Paks II in European Parliament, Claims Ujhelyi

“Members of the European Parliament have just voted in the past few minutes on the amendments and details of the EP resolution on aggression against Ukraine,” wrote Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi Facebook yesterday, adding that some of the items were extremely important for Hungary.

The Socialist MEP quotes a part of the resolution that may have an impact on the Paks II nuclear power plant expansion project, which is financed by Russia and led by Russian firm Rosatom:

The European Parliament … calls on the Member States to stop any collaboration with Russia in the nuclear field, in particular cooperation with Rosatom and its subsidiaries, including cooperation with Russia in the International Atomic Energy Agency and the termination or removal of operating licences for all Rosatom subsidiaries.

The resolution also mentions the International Investment Bank, which operates in Budapest and has been called a Russian “spy bank”:

The European Parliament … calls for the Russian-controlled International Investment Bank to be immediately banned from operating in the EU.

Ujhelyi also cites the section on Hungary’s settlement bonds, which have granted EU residence to wealthy individuals:

The European Parliament … calls on the Member States and allied countries with residence by investment schemes to review all beneficiaries of such residence status and to revoke those attributed to Russian high-net-worth individuals and their families, in particular those linked to sanctioned individuals and companies.

The politician claims that Fidesz MEPs voted in favor of all three items, meaning that they supported these sanctions as well.

But Fidesz MEP Tamás Deutsch disputed Ujhelyi’s claim with his own Facebook post, flat out calling the Socialist politician a liar:

Ujhelyi lied this evening in that ‘Fidesz supported stopping Paks2.’ We voted against it. We didn’t support the parts of the resolution that threaten Hungary’s energy security.

Ujhelyi then responded to Deutsch’s post with a photo of the names of those who voted on the entire document, proving that Fidesz MEPs, including Tamás Deutsch, did in fact vote for the EP resolution urging greater sanctions against Russia. [Index]