BRUSSELS (AP) 鈥� The European Union will unlock 16.4 billion euros (around $19 billion) in funds for Hungary, officials said Friday, after new Prime Minister P茅ter Magyar enacted rapid reforms to roll back the democratic backsliding that occurred under his predecessor.
The release of the funds was a signal of Brussels鈥� embrace of the new government in Budapest after the 16-year tenure of Viktor Orb谩n, who was allied with Russia and antagonized the EU.
The agreement, announced during a media briefing in Brussels on Friday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, capped off weeks of negotiations between Magyar鈥檚 government and the EU to release the crucial funding that is badly needed by Hungary鈥檚 slumping economy.
Magyar called the deal 鈥渁 historic breakthrough鈥� for the nation, and said that his government was “very grateful, and we are ready to continuing cooperating together in the interest of the Hungarian people and all the European citizens.鈥�
Partly by campaigning on forging stronger ties with the EU, in the April election ended the long tenure of Orb谩n, who had vilified von der Leyen and other powerbrokers in the 27-nation bloc as he hollowed out institutional checks and balances in Hungary.
Those actions, and concerns over corruption and the erosion of judicial independence, prompted the EU to in funding to Budapest in 2022. A year later, the commission found that the government had carried out sufficient reforms to have .
On Friday, von der Leyen said that only a few weeks since Magyar’s new government took office, “we can already feel a strong wind of change across Hungary.鈥�
鈥淎 great deal of work has already been achieved in very short time, and markets are already taking notice. Investors confidence is returning. Trust is being rebuilt,鈥� she said.
After Magyar’s party Tisza won a super-majority in parliament, which enabled deep and quick reforms, leaders in Brussels and Budapest as soon as possible to help Hungary’s economy, which has stagnated for years.
The funds are split between 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) of COVID-19 recovery funds and more than 6.3 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in the cohesion funds designed to lift up struggling economies within the EU.
Magyar’s government has undertaken like restoring judicial independence, academic and media freedom, and launching broad anti-corruption efforts in order to get access to the money.
On Friday, Magyar formally submitted Hungary’s request to sign on to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the EU鈥檚 corruption watchdog based in Luxembourg that Orb谩n’s government had long refused to join.
He told reporters that Orb谩n’s government 鈥� which frequently portrayed the EU as an oppressive force bent on punishing Hungary for its anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ+ policies 鈥� had 鈥渓ied to the Hungarian people constantly” about why the funds had been frozen.
鈥淭he real reason the European institutions and the European Union were not in a position to release (the funds) was corruption,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was a degree of corruption that for a long time was unthinkable in the European Union, and in Hungary as well.鈥�
Von der Leyen also announced deeper integration of Hungary into EU institutions. For example, Hungarian students will once again be able to join the Erasmus scholarship program that allows students to attend schools across the EU, an opportunity that under Orb谩n.
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Justin Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.
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