EU denies Hungary a billion euros after reform failures
Kyiv • UNN
The European Commission has announced that Hungary will lose its right to EU assistance due to violations of the rule of law. The country failed to fulfill the requirements for reforms to overcome corruption and conflicts of interest by the end of 2024.
The European Commission on Wednesday said that Hungary has lost the right to receive about 1 billion euros in EU aid due to violations of the rule of law, UNN reports citing DW.
Details
Previously, the EU pressured the country to change its laws to overcome conflicts of interest and corruption.
Budapest had been told it must make reforms by the end of 2024 or they would expire.
In 2022, the EU launched a "conditionality" procedure against Hungary in an attempt to block payments due to alleged violations of public procurement rules. The issue is the lack of control and transparency.
As indicated, it turned out that Hungary had neglected EU standards and fundamental values, and it was ordered to carry out sufficient reforms. Hungary then agreed to implement reforms that unblocked some of the funds, but the €19 billion remained frozen.
The EU conditionality regulation states that without lifting the suspension, the term for the "first tranche of suspended commitments" of EUR 1 billion will expire at the end of 2024.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been in charge of the EU country since 2010 and has consolidated power during his tenure, while some of his allies have made large fortunes, the publication notes.
In a report published in July, the European Commission concluded that Hungary did not meet EU democratic standards. The most notable shortcomings were corruption, political financing, conflicts of interest and media independence.
Hungary is also subject to a September 2018 procedure under which member states impose sanctions for "serious violations" of the rule of law.
