Brussels sees it as premature to talk about the release of funds to Hungary and expects concrete reforms from the new government

The European Commission has considered this Tuesday premature to address the unlocking of the approximately 17 billion euros in cohesion and recovery funds blocked for Hungary until the replacement of the outgoing prime minister, Viktor Orbán, takes place and the commitments to return to the democratic and European path expressed by the opposition leader and winner of Sunday’s elections, Péter Magyar, are materialized in “actions.”

“We have listened carefully to the first words of the prime minister-elect and we trust that many things will happen, in terms of what needs to be done to unlock the funds, but, of course, now we need to see concrete results,” the chief spokesperson for the Community Executive, Paula Pinho, summarized at a press conference in Brussels.

Specifically, as a consequence of the antidemocratic drift of the Orbán Government and reforms that put judicial independence in the country at risk and that threatened the freedoms of vulnerable groups such as children or LGTBIQ, the Union maintains on hold the disbursement of nearly 7.6 billion euros of cohesion funds and another 10.4 billion euros are pending from the post-pandemic anti-crisis fund.

Part of this money, for example, is frozen by the conditionality procedure that stops the payment of European funds if there is a risk that they will be used for policies that undermine the interests of the Union or go against the fundamental principles of the rule of law.

In the case of the recovery plan, for its part, the Hungarian Government must present concrete proposals with reforms and measures to the funds and have Brussels evaluate their convenience and compliance, something that Budapest has not done so far and this despite the fact that it will not be possible to qualify for them beyond 2026.

Thus, the Community Executive sees “very soon” taking a position regarding what is needed for the country to have access to funds again and what the calendar would be, given that barely 48 hours have passed since the results of the elections were known that gave Magyar a two-thirds parliamentary majority that guarantees that he will govern.

“It’s too early. Let’s give the elected prime minister time to settle and present concrete proposals and then we can discuss how to proceed,” Pinho concluded, after pointing out Brussels’ willingness to work side by side with the new Government to pave the way for reforms, but also pointing out the willingness to continue working with the acting Executive while the handover is consolidated.

Among the pending issues that fueled tensions between Brussels and Budapest, although it is not one of the conditions that blocked the funds in 2022, is the Orbán Government’s veto of the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine that it promised to allow in exchange for not assuming part of its cost.

In this sense, the Community Executive has hoped that with the change of Government this obstacle will be resolved, which is why it insists that it believes it is possible to have everything ready in time so that the first payment can be made “in this second quarter”, that is, before the end of June.

VON DER LEYEN WARNS THAT THERE IS A LOT TO DO

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, already said on Monday after the elections that they had listened carefully from Brussels to Magyar’s commitments to once again be a reliable partner within the Union, but she made it clear that there is “a lot of work to do” to restore the rule of law in Hungary.

The German conservative expressed herself in a similar way in a message broadcast this Tuesday on social networks – published after having her second phone call with Magyar since the election result -, with which she once again celebrated that “Hungary has returned to the very heart of Europe, where it has always belonged.”

“We have talked about the immediate priorities. There is quick work to do to restore, realign and reform,” Von der Leyen summarized what was discussed with the prime minister-elect, later clarifying that she hopes the new Government can “restore the rule of law, realign (the country) with shared European values ​​and reform to unlock the opportunities offered by European investments.”