The European Commission allowed on Wednesday the release of €10 billion in cohesion funds for Hungary, almost a year after the money was frozen over the country's failure to address persistent rule-of-law concerns,
Euronews reports.
This means the Hungarian government will be able to submit reimbursement requests of up to €10.2 billion to finance development projects across the country.
"We have received sufficient guarantees to say that independence of the judiciary will be strengthened in Hungary," said Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice.
"Today's decision is however not the end of the process. We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and will react early on in case any backslidings were to occur."
The green light comes in an increasingly fraught political environment, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ratchets up his opposition campaign to prevent the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, block a €50-billion special fund to sustain the war-torn nation's budget and halt further provisions of military aid.
All three high-stakes issues will be discussed later this week during a two-day summit of EU leaders. Unanimity is required to move them forward.
The convergence of events – the release of frozen cash and Orbán's threatening veto – has fuelled speculation that Brussels is engaging in horse-trading to appease Budapest, something that the European Commission has strenuously denied.
The impression was further reinforced on Tuesday when the prime minister's political director openly admitted in an interview that a quid-pro-quo was possible.
"Hungary's EU funding and Ukraine’s financing are two separate issues," the aide told Bloomberg. "But if the EU insists that Ukraine's financing should come from an amended EU budget, then the two issues become linked."
