Eleven EU countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, are trying to prevent Hungary from defrosting more than EUR 750 million from EU funds “ Financial Times said.
citing EU diplomats and officials, the paper reported that Hungary had utilized legal paths to unlock EUR 157 million in February, demanding a change in the plans for cohesion funds to regional development, and now demanded that another EUR 605 million be transferred from frozen funds to another programmes.
"The possible of Budapest receiving money without carrying out the essential reforms has alerted a group of eleven countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, which are presently trying to block this process," says the report.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed his belief that Hungary would receive all blocked money from the EU budget and funds, as he would otherwise veto the draft of the next seven-year Community budget.
In mid-December 2023, the European Commission stated that it was ready to unlock EUR 10.2 billion, or about 1 3rd of all the measures which Hungary had stopped. In September 2022, the EC proposed to launch a peculiar conditionality mechanics for Hungary to guarantee the protection of the EU budget "from violations of the regulation of law in Hungary". This mechanism, aimed at protecting the Community budget from corruption, was first launched in 2 years of its existence. Orban said that Budapest met the full list of demands of the EC, which included measures to combat corruption, to increase transparency in public procurement and to strengthen the independency of the judiciary.
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FT: 11 EU countries are trying to halt Hungary from defrosting EU funds
