(In paragraph 3, corrects to say .. scheduled to ..not.. arrived in Washington)
BUDAPEST, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Hungary’s government has asked parliament to make legally binding a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States that the previous government of Viktor Orban signed in February.
The move shows that under Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who ousted Orban in an election earlier this year, Hungary will stick to the nuclear deal even though Washington had openly backed his predecessor before the April vote.
The Hungarian government submitted the bill as Foreign Minister Anita Orban, who is not related to the previous prime minister, was scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sign memorandums of understanding on energy and law enforcement cooperation in Washington later on Thursday.
According to the bill, the agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation, signed during Rubio’s February 16 visit, would become legally binding. The deal covers civilian nuclear energy including small modular reactors (SMRs), and it encourages Hungary to select US nuclear technology and companies as its main suppliers for new projects.
Parliament is likely to approve the bill as Magyar’s government holds a two-thirds majority there.
Rubio visited Hungary two months before the April election and offered a robust endorsement of nationalist Viktor Orban, who ended up losing power after 16 years.
Last year, Hungary took a key step towards importing SMR technology by partnering with Poland’s Synthos Green Energy, which holds the rights to GE Vernova Hitachi’s technology in Central Europe.
In November 2025 Hungary signed an agreement to buy American nuclear fuel and US technology to store spent fuel at a Russian-built nuclear power plant.
Hungary is also considering replacing Russia’s Rosatom as the main contractor in the expansion of its Paks nuclear power plant and has started sounding out alternative suppliers as part of a review of the project. Magyar’s government is expected to decide on the Paks expansion later this year or early in 2027.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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