EU seeks to unblock 4.2 billion euro in frozen funds for Hungary

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The European Commission on Wednesday proposed unblocking €4.2 billion in cohesion funding for Hungary, frozen in 2022 over rule-of-law violations under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.

Cohesion funding is an EU program aimed at supporting economic, social, and territorial reforms in lower-income member countries. Hungary, along with Poland, Italy and Romania, was the main recipient. Yet the EU froze 55 % of the funding in 2022 over corruption and public procurement concerns in Orbán’s government, which posed a risk to the EU’s “financial interests.”

The EU’s executive branch proposed to lift the restrictions Wednesday “as it considers that Hungary has addressed the rule of law breaches affecting the EU budget,” a press release noted. “Hungary has taken important steps to strengthen the rule of law and protect the Union’s financial interests,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X .

Unblocking EU funds has been a key priority for Péter Magyar, who replaced Orbán as prime minister in May after a seismic election victory. “One of our most important commitments during the campaign was that we were going to unlock the billions of euros that Hungarians deserve,” he said in Brussels shortly after his election.

Budapest has made significant progress tackling public procurement concerns, corruption and conflicts of interest since May. “More than a hundred pieces of legislation had to be amended,” a government website read , citing anti-corruption reforms and the country joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The Commission’s proposal is expected to be adopted by the Council, and will be “an important and positive step for Hungary and for the European Union,” Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said.

“The Commission will continue to engage constructively with the Hungarian authorities and to closely monitor developments. Sustaining the progress made will be important in the period ahead,” he added.