EU to release billions in frozen funds for Hungary amid Magyar reforms
The European Union has announced it will unlock 16.4 billion euros ($19bn) for Hungary in a major win for the newly elected Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, Al Jazeera reports.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday that the bloc was ready to release the funds that were frozen when Viktor Orban was in power.
“That is quite a sum, but … the Hungarian people deserve it. Again, many, many thanks for the outstanding work that has been done,” she told a media conference after talks with Magyar in Brussels.
“We can already feel a strong wind of change across Hungary.”
“In only a few weeks, you [Magyar] have driven forward long overdue reforms,” she added.
In a reversal from last year when the event was banned under Orban, police said on Friday they would not ban next month’s Pride parade in Budapest.
Magyar described the release of the funds as a “historic day”, saying that they “fought for each cent”.
The prime minister, who won last month’s election in April after pledging to secure EU funding, said the EU money amounts to about 13 percent of Hungary’s budget.
The bulk of the frozen funds is from the EU’s COVID recovery fund, and Hungary had until the end of August to present a new plan to secure them.
EU officials have said that if all steps are completed in time, Budapest could expect the first disbursement of money before the year ends.
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