Chinese Battery Plant Investment Faces Local Backlash in Hungary
- Residents jeer officials where CATL and Mercedes plan factory
- Environmental concerns fuel opposition to huge battery plants
Representatives sign an agreement during the CATL factory investment announcement in Debrecen, Hungary.
Photographer: Attila Volgyi/Xinhua/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Hungarian protesters disrupted an event in the city where Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG plan a 7.3 billion-euro ($7.9 billion) factory, signaling growing opposition to the country’s single biggest investment.
Residents shouted “traitors” at officials during a town-hall meeting in the eastern city of Debrecen, a stronghold of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling party and host of the planned factory, according to a video published on Telex news website on Friday. The demonstrators said officials had failed to take into account potential environmental risks.