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The European Commission unlocks 10 billion euros for Hungary

2023-12-13 19:32:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The European Commission unlocks 10 billion euros for Hungary

Viktor Orban sits down before addressing parliament in Budapest

The European Commission announced today that it will release about 10 billion euros earmarked for Hungary, about a third of the total amount suspended due to a number of concerns related to the rule of law.

The commission argued that Hungary has fulfilled a number of judicial reforms and thus deserves access to access a portion of the funding on merit.

In a statement, the commission said: After a thorough assessment and several exchanges with the Hungarian government, the Commission assesses that Hungary has taken the measures it pledged to take in order for the Commission to consider that the horizontal condition of enabling the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has been fulfilled in relation to judicial independence.

This means that part of the Cohesion Policy funding will no longer be blocked, and therefore Hungary can start asking for refunds of up to around 10.2 billion euros.

Tibor Navracsics, Hungary's regional development minister, told the Guardian: We have met all the conditions, so we are very confident that the EU funds will now come. However, the decision is proving very controversial.

Hungarian civil society groups that monitor the independence of the judiciary say the government has not fully met the criteria. And a group of four political groups in the European Parliament - including the centre-right European People's Party and the Socialists and Democrats - also expressed concern in a letter to commission president Ursula von der Leyen today.

Critics of the commission's move say there is a perception that the release of funds was rushed to help persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to lift his deadlock on key Ukraine-related decisions the leaders had planned to take at a summit. that begins tomorrow.

Reacting to Wednesday afternoon's decision, German Green MEP Daniel Freund said in a statement: By releasing 10 billion euros to Orbán, von der Leyen is making the biggest mistake of her time in office.

The necessary reforms have not been implemented. However, the timing of the release only allows the conclusion that it was not about justice reforms. Instead, the €10 billion was intended to override Orbán's veto. There was no obligation to respond to Hungary's request before the summit./ CNA