The European Court of Justice has struck down EU approval for Russia to build a nuclear power station in Hungary, arguing that it was unclear whether prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government followed EU procurement rules when awarding state nuclear corporation Rosatom the contract without a public tender.

Judges at the Luxembourg-based court ruled on 11 September that the European Commission should have taken into consideration EU public procurement rules when it approved Budapest’s plans to subsidise the construction of two new nuclear reactors built by Rosatom at the existing Paks nuclear power station site, about 120 km south of the capital Budapest in central Hungary.