Sawt Falasteen - Samsung battery plant turns toxic for Orban's re-election campaign

The allegations revealed by Hungarian news site Telex last month come at a sensitive time for nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban as he faces an unprecedented challenge to his 16 years in power in elections next month.

While Orban and Samsung have dismissed the allegations, opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose party has been polling ahead of Orban's since last year, has said it underlines the corruption he pledges to fight.

The South Korean industrial giant established its battery plant in 2017, and it now sprawls over 50 hectares (123 acres) on the outskirts of God.

With Orban promoting Hungary as a global hub for electric vehicle manufacturing, the factory has received generous subsidies of more than half a billion euros in taxpayers' money to build and expand the facility.

Telex reported that a 2023 intelligence report by the Hungarian security services found that Samsung has been exposing workers to cancer-inducing chemicals far above legal limits, did nothing to end the problem and deliberately tried to conceal it.

The government chose not to seek the plant's closure, Telex claimed, despite concerns among some ministers about the "unacceptable political risk".

Instead it gave Samsung a few months to resolve the problems, it added.

Citing internal documents, the news site said the issues were still not completely solved.

But Samsung insisted last month that the factory "complies with all environmental and occupational safety regulations and operates transparently."

The plant and others like it, including one by China's CATL, have repeatedly seen protests over environmental concerns.

- Toxic solvent -

When AFP visited God last week, several locals said they were worried about the factory, while others said they trusted the government.

"They keep expanding it... it became huge, and we don't know what is going on inside," pensioner Erika Nemeth, 67, told AFP, complaining about falling property prices.

Another resident, Beata Peimli, said she believed the factory would be shut down if there were problems.

"Such a large factory is probably monitored extensively," said the 45-year-old.

The local council is seeking to calm nerves.

"All accredited tests to date carried out by the local government... have not detected any contamination," acting spokesman Peter David Balogh told AFP.

But local environmentalist group God-ERT -- founded in 2020 to monitor the battery plant -- is sceptical.

Tests it commissioned detected N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) in local wells. The toxic solvent frequently used in battery manufacturing is highly dangerous to pregnant women.

The plant -- which until 2023 did not need an environmental permit to run -- has repeatedly faced fines for occupational, industrial safety and environmental violations.

Samsung has violated "all kinds of regulations", including "deficiencies in environmental protection" and "occupational safety", said Zsuzsanna Bodnar, a local journalist from investigative outlet Atlatszo and a founding member of God-ERT.

Both God-ERT and Atlatszo have faced probes from authorities over their funding, though neither has been sanctioned.

- 'Fake issue' -

Orban has dismissed the latest claims as a "fake issue" ahead of the April 12 general election, insisting Hungary has "the strictest environmental regulations in place, and our authorities enforce these regulations".

Neither Samsung nor the government responded to AFP's inquiries for comments.

Opposition leader Magyar, who held a rally in God on Thursday, has pledged to review all battery factory licences if his party wins the election.

Magyar's party could win support locally, according to Szabolcs Pek, an analyst at Iranytu Institute think tank.

"But this won't be the issue that brings down the system," he added.

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST