Orban’s blackmail worked: the European Commission gave the green light to allocate 10 billion to Hungary

The European Commission has given the green light to allocate 10.2 billion euros from the Cohesion Fund to Hungary. The funds were allocated the day before a very difficult discussion at the Ukraine summit.

In December 2022, the commission froze 21.7 billion euros of European funds allocated from the Cohesion Fund for Hungary due to violations of the rule of law. The commission’s statement comes a day before the European Council is due to take key decisions on political, economic and military aid to Ukraine under threat of a veto from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

In its report, the commission tries to “sugarcoat” the situation, arguing that Hungary’s reforms aimed at increasing the independence of the judiciary are sufficient and therefore it can begin to demand compensation of approximately 10.2 billion euros.

In particular, the European Commission adopted two decisions on the state of the rule of law in the country. One of them concerns the horizontal conditions for granting permission to reform the Hungarian judicial system, and the other concerns the mechanism of fiscal conditions. With these decisions, the commission develops several procedures launched by the council in December 2022.

It is noted that Hungary, like all Member States, must ensure that favorable conditions are maintained throughout the duration of the cohesion policy. The Commission will closely and continuously monitor, in particular through audit, Hungary’s implementation of these measures and emphasizes that if at any point it is determined that the eligibility condition for receiving funds is not met, it may decide to block the funding again.

These decisions are also perceived as a major defeat for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was once again forced to retreat in the face of the Hungarian Prime Minister. According to reports, leaders EU led by Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz are insisting that Brussels allocate funds.

Now we can only guess what Hungary’s position will be during the difficult discussions that are beginning on a package of support measures. The union is “eager” to get approval for a new economic package, but Viktor Orban is one of the main opponents of these steps.

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