Hungary's struggle against the EU: the rule of law or billion loss?

Hungary's struggle against the EU: the rule of law or billion loss?

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orban faces considerable challenges with regard to the planned EU aids. Hungary has currently lost the right to around 1.04 billion euros in EU funds, which were intended for programs for promoting structural weak areas, reports Tagesschau . This happened after the EU Commission had frozen the funds at the end of 2022, since Hungary disregarded fundamental EU standards and values.

The focus of the tensions is the required legal state reforms, which Hungary should have implemented by the end of 2024. These include important changes to avoid conflicts of interest and to fight corruption. Hungary, on the other hand, states that he has met all conditions. Orban also threatened with a veto against the next seven-year budget of the EU, should not be released by the blocked funds.

influence of the EU on Hungary

In the political discussion in Hungary, the role of foreign actors is also discussed. Peter Magyar and the anti-orban party "Tisza" received support from George Soros and his supporters. Kinga Kollar, an EU member of the party, publicly admitted that they confused with the Brussels elites against the Hungarian people. As part of a meeting of the EU Law Sentence Committee, she said positively about the effects of the reluctance of EU funds on the Hungarian opposition, Our Central Europe.

The deficit in the rule of law in Hungary is alarming. According to the Liberties Rule of Law Report 2024, Hungary is identified as the country with the greatest regression in the rule of law. Worrying developments are shown by the permanent hazard of media freedom and the destruction of civil society space. The report, which was created by 43 human rights organizations from 21 EU countries, also documents systematic violations of human rights, which makes Hungary appear in a negative light. Liberties emphasizes that these topics are incorporated into the monitoring cycle of the European Commission.

economic dependencies

Despite the blocked EU funds, Hungary acts internationally. In April 2024, for example, the Hungarian government used a loan of one billion euros in Chinese state banks to finance its economic projects. Chinese investments flow into the construction of significant infrastructure projects, including a new railway line from Budapest to Belgrade and a mega factory of the battery cell manufacturer Catl.

In addition, the EU funds remain blocked by a total of 19 billion euros, which has a lasting influence on public services in Hungary. Kollar criticized that the reluctance of the funds did not lead to a renovation of 50 hospitals, which underlines the urgency of the reforms.

Overall, the current situation in Hungary not only shows a continuing political and economic crisis situation, but also the area of ​​tension between national interests and the requirements of the EU to its Member States. The conflict between Orban and Brussels remains central to Hungarian politics.