Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has achieved his goal in Brussels. The European Commission has announced the release of 16.4 billion euros of European funds blocked by Viktor Orbán’s policies just three weeks after taking office. “It was one of the campaign promises and we have fulfilled it,” celebrated the European popular, very smiling alongside the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “If every time I come I leave with this amount of money, I will come more often,” he joked.
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These are European allocations that are part of different funds. The largest, 10 billion euros, is within the recovery plan funds after the pandemic, plus another 4.2 billion euros from cohesion funds and another 2.2 billion in funds linked to academic freedom. This is a somewhat smaller amount than the 18 billion Magyar intended to unfreeze, all a series of allocations due to procedures initiated against some of Orbán’s most controversial measures against the rights of LGBTI people, the rule of law, corruption, and some conflicts of interest.
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The last few weeks have been a continuous series of negotiations between Brussels and Budapest to unblock the funds in exchange for the democratic reforms demanded by the community executive. Because although the funds are no longer blocked, it is still necessary for Brussels to verify how the Hungarian Government is progressing in sensitive areas such as the fight against corruption or serious changes in the education system. In addition, some of these allocations also require the approval of the other member states.
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However, the atmosphere seems one of full understanding between both parties. Very smiling, Von der Leyen has celebrated the “progress” made by Magyar’s Government in the short time he has been at the helm of Hungary. “Few weeks have passed, but we can already feel a strong wind of change in the fight against corruption, in launching economic recovery and in restoring the rule of law,” said Von der Leyen, very smiling under a huge European and Hungarian flag.
Brussels has rolled out the red carpet for Magyar after the turbulent sixteen years of Orbán, marked by constant blockages and blackmail. It is the second time in a month and a half that he is in the community capital to negotiate this file. In Brussels, they privately acknowledge that probably never before so much attention had been paid to a prime minister when he has not yet officially sworn in. It is a situation similar to the election of Donald Tusk in Poland in 2024, when Brussels began to unblock some of the funds immobilized during the previous Law and Justice government.
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