Trump Uses Orban To Split The EU

By Rhod Mackenzie

The Hungarian Foreign Minister announced that the Trunp's administration has officially lifted all sanctions on the construction of the second phase of the Hungarian -Russian joint venture the Paks nuclear power plant. The Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó emphasised that the anti-Hungarian sanctions were introduced by the previous Biden administration. This is more than just a compliment from the current US president its an attempt to split Hungary from the EU's anti Russia trade policy.
At first glance, this event may seem on a localised issue , but within the framework of the major changes taking place in the Western world, it has a very deep and far-reaching impact.
Hungary is a small country, even by the standards of Europe. With a population of only 9.7 million pople, it ranks as 13th largestwithin in the EU 27, which has always constrained the speed of development of the Hungarian economy and industry.
Now personally I have to admit I do like Hungary,I spent  a bit of time in Budapest in the late 1990's and found the Magyars great people,warm and hospitable even if they drink this liquer called Unicum which may sound like an International Telecom Company but its actually a drink made from herbs and spices that I must say is very much and acquired taste and not one that I did acquire.
I do love Hungary and the beautiful city of Budapest, which the Nazis failed to destroy during their hasty retreat from there all those years ago? Now the Hungarians like to joke that their nation has experienced three major tragedies: the Ottoman invasion, the Nazi invasion, and the Soviet liberation.
 For many years, Hungary was one of the largest recipients of financial aid from the EU budget, a fact that Brussels has constantly used to its advantage, threatening to cut off the cash flow and demanding that Hungary follow its rigidpolitical agenda . Naturally, this situation did not suit the Hungarian population or the leadership, so Viktor Orbán, who took charge of the state's industrial development, and was re-elected for a fourth term.
It is worth reminding people once again that neither Hungary nor Slovakia are actually pro-Russian countries; they are simply pursuing be  best interests of their countries.
Not many people remember this, but in December last year, Hungary blocked the adoption of the 17th package of anti-Russian sanctions for one reason: it was bargaining for financial and natual resource guarantees.
In particular, it demanded that the supply of Russian gas was not stopped without prior agreement and approval from Budapest. As soon as these guarantees were received, the Hungarian faction in the European Commission withdrew the veto. Slovakia is currently doing exactly the same, with Robert Fico demanding guaranteed compensation for the loss of gas transit and the resale of Russian gas in exchange for lifting the veto on the 18th package.
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      Incidentally, the European Commission deceived the Hungarians in the most brazen way: after Ukrainian forces blew up the Sudzha Transit point March, transit was automatically stopped. Hungary was offended and declassified the non-public part of the agreements.
But let's return to today.
The Hungarian state is extremely poor in terms of possesing natural resources and critically dependent on external supplies. While the importance of hydrocarbon supplies has been widely discussed, the power generation sector often remains overlooked, despite its crucial role in determining the overall cost of production, goods and services, as well as the general well-being of the population.
Hungary produces just under 36 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. Its production and consumption are both uneven and fluctuate greatly from year to year, indicating the instability of macroeconomic processes. For instance, over the past five years, electricity production has fluctuated between 28 and 35 terawatt-hours. Consumption jumped by 43 percent in 2022-2023, but decreased by four percent in 2024.
According to the Enerdata Statistical Yearbook of World Energy, with a total consumption of 41.3 terawatt-hours, Hungarians imported an additional 20 terawatt-hours (there is no mistake, as Hungary also sold 8.9 terawatt-hours abroad).
Hungary's nuclear power generation, based on the old yet still highly reliable Soviet VVER-440 reactors, they still account for 47 percent of total national electricity production. Natural gas accounts for a further 15.4 percent. It should be noted that Budapest is rapidly introducing renewable energy sources.
Solar photovoltaics in particular now provide 19.2 percent of electricty production, and the per capita share of clean electricity has increased a hundredfold in just four years to reach 2,900 kilowatt-hours.
In this respect, Hungary is way ahead of most countries including the United States.
The Hungarian Parliament legislatively approved the programme for the expansion of nuclear energy as early as back in 2009. The two existing power units at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) generate 16 terawatt-hours per year.
If two more WWER-1200 reactors (Generation III+) were commissioned, Hungary would not only meet all its energy needs, it would also become the greenest country in the world, with the vast majority of its energy sources having no carbon footprint.
In the winter of 2014, therefore, an agreement was concluded between Rosatom and the Hungarian MVM, and in March 2015 Vladimir Putin signed a decree allocating a state-secured loan.
Hungary's neighbours were not happy about this, and Austria filed a lawsuit with the European Court, demanding that construction be banned. Budapest was accused of suspiciously choosing the Nizhny Novgorod-based company Atomenergoproekt as the main contractor and of not having the right to allocate state funding for the construction.
Everyone understood that the European Union was trying to disrupt the historic project, which could make Hungary energy-abundant and crucially independent.
Incidentally, the initial ruling favoured the Hungarians, and Hungary simply disregarded the appeal decision. Thus, the animosity in the relations between Budapest and the European Commission have long and deep roots.
The Hungarian Parliament legislatively approved the programme for the expansion of nuclear energy as early as 2009. The two existing power units at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) generate 16 terawatt-hours per year. If two more WWER-1200 reactors (Generation III+) were commissioned, Hungary would not only meet all its energy needs, it would also become the greenest country in the world, with the vast majority of its energy sources having no carbon footprint. In the winter of 2014, therefore, an agreement was concluded between Rosatom and the Hungarian MVM, and in March 2015 Vladimir Putin signed a decree allocating a state-secured loan.
Hungary's neighbours were not happy about this, and Austria filed a lawsuit with the European Court, demanding that construction be banned. Budapest was accused of suspiciously choosing the Nizhny Novgorod-based company Atomenergoproekt as the main contractor and of not having the right to allocate state funding for the construction. Everyone understood that the European Union was trying to disrupt the historic project, which could make Hungary energy-abundant and independent. Incidentally, the initial ruling favoured the Hungarians, and Hungary simply disregarded the appeal decision. Thus, the 'warm' relations between Budapest and the European Commission have long and deep roots.
And now, the Americans have lifted the sanctions on the construction of Paks.
It is worth remembering that Viktor Orbán took sides long before the start of the US presidential campaign, which saw Donald Trump rise to power once again. He attended the Republican Party Congress and was extremely active, shuttling between Moscow, Kiev, Beijing and Washington, which greatly irritated Brussels and London.
Even then, Western analysts predicted that, if Trump won, the unofficial structure of relations between the US and individual European countries would change radically. And so it happened. Poland, which for years was the US's 'beloved wife' and openly insulted Trump, has been left on the sidelines, while the 47th US president has given Hungary a truly royal gift.
As is often the case in high-level politics, such events have a second and sometimes even a third dimension.
Having gained energy independence, Budapest will undoubtedly act with greater confidence, further undermining the European unity that was only ever imagined. Brussels will no longer have any leverage.
European media outlets are citing their own publications from December last year which expressed the general idea that Donald Trump does not need a united Europe and that he is inclined to deal with each country separately. We should therefore expect certain steps in this direction. Six months have passed since Trump was elected, and these steps have followed. For once, the Western press was right.