On Friday 14 January, on the occasion of a press conference held in the presence of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Minister for national development announced the official support of Hungary to the implementation of the Extreme-Light-Infrastructure in the country.

In line with the resolutions adopted in Prague in October 2009 by the Steering Committee of the Preparatory Phase of ELI, Hungary plans to build a €250-million facility dedicated to the attosecond scientific pillar of ELI in the Szeged (South-East of Hungary). Once implemented, this facility will be operated jointly with the ELI Beamlines facility (Dolní Břežany) and the ELI Nuclear Physics facility (Magurele-Bucharest) by a European Consortium (ERIC) to be established by the three hosting countries and other major European partners already involved in the project.

The decision of the Hungarian authorities is expected to allow significant progress in the development of joint activities and strategies by the three countries in the framework of the ELI Delivery Consortium, a structure established in 2010 to support the delivery of ELI and pave the way to the ERIC.