Massive splits are emerging in Brussels over the European Commission’s decision agreed to hand over £8.8billion to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban despite his close ties with Moscow. But while arch-Brexit critic Guy Verhofstadt MEP was quick to brand the situation “scandalous” and proof of “blackmail”, Brexiteer Martin Daubney gleefully suggested it proved the bloc was “revolting”.
The European Union yesterday relented and granted Hungary access to €10.2billion in frozen funds just as Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared ready to defy his EU partners and veto the opening of membership talks and vital financial aid for Ukraine.
A year ago, the European Union’s executive branch blocked substantial amounts of “cohesion funds” out of concern that Orban’s nationalist government could put the bloc’s budget at risk. The cash helps countries maintain their infrastructure at EU standards. Each EU27 member state must apply for the money to fund building and other projects.
Now, the bloc’s executive – headed up by President Ursula von der Leyen – has ruled Orban’s government has addressed some of its concerns, notably on justice reforms – while warning: “The commission will closely and continuously monitor, notably through audits, active engagement with stakeholders and in monitoring committees, the application of the measures put in place by Hungary.”
Critics believe the commission’s decision appears to be an attempt to influence Orban after he demanded that decisions on Ukraine’s EU membership hopes and on a package of around £47billion in aid for its war-ravaged economy be struck off the agenda at an EU summit starting on Thursday. Mr Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister and a frequent critic of Mr Orban, was deeply unimpressed, tweeting: “Scandalous decision by @EU_Commission to liberate €10 billion for Hungary… signalling that blackmail beats Ukraine solidarity, good governance and EU values. I withdraw my confidence in @vonderleyen and this Commission!”
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German MEP Jens Geier was similarly unhappy, given Mr Orban’s close friendship with Putin, suggesting the deal effectively meant the Russian President “is also sitting at the summit table”. However, commenting on Mr Verhofstadt’s tweet, Mr Daubney, a former Brexit Party MEP who is now a GB News presenter, said: “The EU is revolting!”
Mr Orban needs the money to prop up his country’s ailing economy, which in September only just avoided four straight quarters of contraction. A persistent deficit has caused his government to repeatedly amend its budget and cut social spending.
Soaring prices – Hungary has recorded the highest inflation in the EU for most of the last year, rising over to 20 percent for 11 months – have undermined consumer demand. In October, Hungarians spent 7.3 percent less than a year earlier.
Mr Orban’s 26 European partners are understood to be planning to try to press ahead with their Ukraine plans anyway, even though unanimous approval would be required. But the commission insists that Hungary is technically eligible for the money and that his government could take the commission to court if it failed to provide access to the funds. At the same time, it said, a total of £19.6 billion euros in EU money will remain frozen.
Mr Orban has complained of corruption in Ukraine and has called for a “strategic discussion” on the country’s future in Europe as the war with Russia bogs down and concerns mount about what kind of administration might emerge in Washington after the US elections in a year. Speaking in Hungary’s parliament Wednesday, Mr Orban said that the time for bringing Ukraine into the EU had “not yet come,” and that the development of a strategic partnership with Kyiv should be a prerequisite for beginning membership talks.
He added: “We are interested in a peaceful and prosperous Ukraine, but this requires the establishment of peace as quickly as possible, and a deliberate deepening of the strategic partnership.”
The commission has long accused Mr Orban of dismantling democratic institutions, taking control of the media and infringing on minority rights. Mr Orban, who has been in office since 2010, rejects the allegations and accuses Brussels of interference.
EU countries pay roughly one percent of their gross national income into the budget. Hungary was slated to receive at least €43billion in all from the 2021-27 budget, according to commission estimates. Separately last month, the commission announced that Hungary would receive €776 million euros ($972 million) under a programme helping EU nations recover from the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and intended to cut their dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
