The gigantic Chinese lithium battery factory under construction for three years on the edge of Hungary’s second biggest city hasn’t started production yet.
But it has already contributed to a political earthquake.
As the biggest Chinese investment in Europe, the $8.5 billion project in the eastern city of Debrecen had been hailed by Hungary’s outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orban, as proof of the economic benefits of his close relations with China.
Instead, the factory helped bring about his downfall.
In the April 12 election, Mr. Orban’s Fidesz party lost all its seats in Parliament from Debrecen, long a bastion of rock-solid support for the party, to the upstart Tisza movement, whose leader, Peter Magyar, is set to be sworn in as prime minister on Saturday in Budapest, the capital.
Tisza railed against the risks of toxic waste and the lax enforcement record of environmental regulations by Mr. Orban’s government. That message resonated in a city where many voters strongly opposed the factory, worried about their health, water supply and the closure of a railway line that crosses land bought by the Chinese company.
Mr. Magyar has now promised to “review,” but not halt the battery plant, as he tries to balance the demands of his voters for greater scrutiny of potential environmental hazards with his promises to revive Hungary’s sluggish economy.
Mr. Magyar has made clear that his initial priority is to soothe strained relations with the European Union and unblock nearly $20 billion in frozen funding. What to do about the factory, an emblem of Mr. Orban’s close economic and political relations with China, will be an early test of whether he wants to continue an effusive friendship that some see as at odds with the E.U.’s view of China as a “systemic rival.”
