Hungary officially lost one billion euros of European funds on Wednesday, January 1, frozen due to breaches of the rule of law accused of Budapest, according to the European Commission, which constitutes a first in the EU.
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Brussels had triggered the conditionality mechanism against the Central European country in spring 2022, a procedure which resulted in the suspension of certain payments. The Commission then spoke of “ serious concerns » on the use of the European budget by the Hungarylinked to the conditions for awarding public contracts as well as a lack of control and transparency.
Budapest has since undertaken reforms which have made it possible to release part of the money, but 19 billion remains frozen under various procedures. “ Under the conditionality regulation, […] the first installment » suspended money, amounting to 1.04 billion euros, has expired » end of 2024 », Specified the Commission to AFP.
In July, the European Commission found in a report that Hungary did not respect the democratic standards of theEuropean Unionparticularly in matters of corruption, political financing, conflicts of interest and media independence.
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Viktor Orban promised to “ fight » to protect the money « who is ours “. “ They are constantly trying to take money from Hungarians by various means and for various reasons », he protested in December, threatening to block the European Union budget to achieve his ends.
In this difficult context for the leader against a backdrop of economic recession, his new rival Peter Magyar called for early legislative elections on Wednesday, while several polls give his party a lead. The ballot is currently scheduled for spring 2026. “ Time is running out. Let’s bring forward the date of the elections so that the country does not waste another year unnecessarily “, he launched in his wishes for 2025. “ We will bring home the billions that the European Union owes us. »
In addition to the frozen funds, Hungary has been targeted since September 2018 by the Article 7 procedure intended to sanction a Member State where a “ serious violation » of the rule of law, this can in theory go as far as a suspension of the voting rights of this country within the Council of the European Union.
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