Aboard the car that takes her to eastern Hungary, south of Debrecen, Eva Kozma jumps at the sight of these concrete foundations, a few kilometers from her home: “The CATL factory is ruining our lives! » It is here, in the southern industrial park of the country’s second city, that the world leader in the electric battery market, China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited (CATL), is building its largest lithium-ion plant in Europe. ion, with a capacity of 100 gigawatt hours (GWh). These 221 hectares of old fertile fields should eventually make it possible to equip one million cars with electric batteries each year.
Production, which will start in 2025, worries the local residents, like Mme Kozma, residing in Mikepércs, a rural town of 5,300 inhabitants and bordering the CATL plant. This 47-year-old Hungarian moved there seventeen years ago, looking for a healthy environment to raise her children. She now fears that her place of life will become unlivable. “It’s a sector that uses dangerous solvents as well as heavy metals, which can end up in the soil we cultivate, the water we drink and the air we breathe. The authorities are not up to the task of enforcing the standards. »
This mother also fears an influx of foreign labor in this small town, while the country, close to full employment, faces a shortage of workers. “Hungarians were not prepared for this. On the contrary, they have been repeatedly told that foreigners should not steal their jobs and their culture… And then, that risks leading to modern slavery. » A situation with which the village is already confronted: a family house is thus occupied by about fifty Asian workers living in unenviable conditions.
Having never received adequate answers to their concerns, either from CATL or from the government, Eva Kozma and several inhabitants of Mikepércs gathered within Miakö, the association of mothers of Mikepércs for the environment, are of all mobilizations against the project. The fight of David against Goliath since it amounts to opposing the will of the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.
The latter, who has been leading Hungary since 2010 by having weakened the checks and balances, does not hide his pride in making this Central European nation a ” major power “ electric battery. “We are making huge investments in electric batteries and before long we will become the third largest producer in the world and the fifth largest exporter on the planet”, he said in July 2022, during a summer school in Transylvania (Romania).
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