Hungarian Conservative

Despite the attack on public media and the political imprisonment of former government members, the Polish government led by Donald Tusk could soon gain access to some of the EU funds that were frozen due to concerns about the rule of law.

The minister explained that the negotiations’ next phase, according to plans, will commence this Thursday. The goal of the government is to start the financing of EU projects as soon as the negotiations regarding the authorizing of the release of the funds are completed.

Viktor Orbán has firmly stated that Hungary will not approve any EU budget increase until its access to the withheld funds is reinstated. The EC may now be willing to release the frozen funding to gain Budapest’s support for an increase in the EU budget to secure more financial aid to Ukraine.

Navracsics reminded that Hungary is to receive 14 trillion Hungarian forints in cohesion funds for the 2021-2027 EU budget cycle. Of this amount, 4 trillion forints have already been received and are continuously being used for rural development.

The fate of a sum of 13.2 billion EUR is at stake in the political and legal debate between the European Commission and the government of Hungary. Parts of the regular EU cohesion and post-COVID recovery funds are being withheld, as the Commission has issues with the state of the rule of law in Hungary. The new law, to enter into force on 1 July, aims to resolve the deadlock.

Monday’s negotiations were a very important milestone in building trust between the EU and Hungary, Judit Varga said, who added that she does not expect any new conditions from the European Commission regarding the Hungarian justice package.

Hungary is accused of being immoral for not agreeing to the newest Ukraine aid scheme. But it takes two to tango.