The European Commission has toned down its public criticism of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government ahead of the parliamentary elections to avoid accusations of interference and to deny additional arguments to his anti-Brussels campaign. This is reported by the Financial Times, according to UNN.
Details
According to the publication, Brussels fears that harsh statements or new steps against Budapest could be used by Orbán as proof of pressure from the EU. That is why the European Commission has become more cautious in its public communications regarding rule of law issues in Hungary.
Sources at the Financial Times note that ahead of the elections on April 12, the European Commission may even unblock some funding for the Hungarian government. This refers to approximately 2.4 billion euros, which could potentially be paid regardless of existing concerns about Budapest.
According to polls, Orbán's Fidesz party could lose the elections for the first time in many years. The opposition Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar, is ahead of the current government by approximately 10 percentage points. Tisza representatives also called on European institutions to refrain from drastic actions during the election campaign.
According to sources, the European Commission itself believes that any steps regarding Hungary – or their absence – will still be used by Orbán in the internal political struggle. At the same time, Brussels emphasizes that it has not officially stopped working on rule of law issues and continues to analyze the actions of the Hungarian authorities.
Currently, about 17 billion euros of EU funds for Hungary remain frozen due to concerns about the independence of the judiciary and discriminatory policies. Additional tension is created by Budapest's recent steps, including Orbán's decree to cancel certain judicial proceedings against the government, which raised new doubts about the independence of the courts.
The European Commission states that it is closely monitoring the situation and analyzing all decisions of the Hungarian authorities, while denying that their actions or pauses are directly related to the election process.
Recall
The Hungarian government believes that Ukraine's rapid accession to the EU threatens the bloc with war with Russia and will harm the economy. Prime Minister Orbán sharply attacked Zelensky over his statement about Ukraine's readiness to join by 2027.i