Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is contending with the sternest challenge his administration has faced since taking power, after the partial shutdown of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant put summer electricity supply at risk.
Every reactor at the site but one has been pulled offline because the Danube, which supplies the plant’s cooling water, has dropped to record lows. A further decline could force Paks to stop generating altogether for the first time in the 42 years since it opened, opening the door to blackouts and rationing at the very moment consumption peaks.
Magyar won April’s election and took office in May, making the outage his first serious political trial.
“The current situation can turn out to be either a threat to the reputation of the new Hungarian government or, in fact, an opportunity to strengthen the perception of an efficient crisis manager in Hungarian society,” said Dániel Hegedűs, deputy director of the Institut für Europäische Politik.
His party still enjoys a comfortable cushion. Polling published by the Republikon Institute put support for Magyar’s Tisza Party at 58% in July, with Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz on 20%.
Fidesz goes on the attack
Fidesz governed for 16 years before losing power, and its standing has fallen steeply since. The party is now using the shutdown to paint Magyar’s team as out of its depth.
“The government is not in control of the situation. It is only thanks to the sacrifices of the Hungarian people, the self-restraint of companies, and the development achievements of the past 16 years that there is no bigger problem. The Tisza government cannot handle the energy crisis,” Fidesz parliamentary group leader János Bóka wrote on social media.
How the government is responding
Paks normally accounts for something close to 40% of Hungarian electricity, and a heatwave has driven demand well above ordinary levels. Magyar said the country would get through the squeeze by ramping up other generators, buying more power from abroad and asking factories and households to trim usage voluntarily.
“The Hungarian government has already done what was possible under the given circumstances for successful crisis management — both in terms of strategic communication to Hungarian society and mobilising domestic power plant capacity, as well as ensuring that imports from European electricity markets can proceed smoothly to cover Hungarian consumption,” Hegedűs said.
Officials also hold a fallback plan that would cap industrial consumption on a rotating basis should conditions worsen.
“The unprecedented situation calls for solutions that have never been used before,” Magyar said. “In these extraordinary circumstances, coordinated action and an exceptional level of cooperation will be essential.”
Tisza points back at its predecessors
Márton Hajdu, a Tisza lawmaker, told Euronews that responsibility for the missing infrastructure at Paks — the works that would have let the plant keep running through an extreme drought — does not sit with the current government.
“The government is getting on with the job,” Hajdu said. “At the same time, Hungarians are witnessing the true legacy of the previous government. Every day, it becomes clearer how much essential infrastructure was never built — projects the country desperately needed. While squandering and siphoning off vast sums of public money, they were also prepared to let billions in EU funding slip away. Our job is to minimise the price the Hungarian people have to pay for the previous government’s irresponsibility.”
An opening, if nothing goes wrong
Another official close to the government, who spoke to Euronews anonymously given the sensitivity of the subject, argued the episode could work in Magyar’s favour so long as no serious errors follow.
“This is an opportunity to prove ourselves, demonstrate that we are competent, and help reunite the nation. It is also a chance to explain how Fidesz betrayed the country, while allowing our ministers to prove themselves,” the official said.
“There is one condition: we have to get through this crisis without major mistakes or unnecessary distractions.”
“So far, we have not had to choose between impossible options, because the Hungarian people and businesses have shown remarkable maturity in managing the demand side, and Prime Minister Péter Magyar has been showing strong leadership. I don’t think this will be a major test for us; that will come later.”
What could still go wrong
Magyar described the next few days as decisive for the grid. Hegedűs cautioned that any failure would hand Fidesz an opening.
“If anything goes wrong and there will be blackouts in the coming days, then of course it will open up an opportunity for the opposition party Fidesz to attack the government with the argument that they failed to manage the situation,” he said. The damage to Magyar might prove contained, he added, because the prime minister can direct blame at Orbán’s record on investment.
“Péter Magyar can use the counterargument that the current situation is a consequence of the negligence of the Fidesz governments, and particularly the delayed investment and construction of new pipelines at the Paks nuclear power plant, which would have allowed operations to continue even at a lower water mark on the Danube.”
