Hungary set to receive €920 million in EU recovery funds without strings attached

euronews (in English)

The European Commission approved on Thursday the revised version of Hungary’s recovery and resilience plan, a decision that foresees the release of €920 million without strings attached.

Transcript

00:00 Brussels is set to send 920 million euros to Budapest over the next year, after the

00:06 European Commission approved Hungary`s updated post-COVID recovery plan. The money, earmarked

00:12 for energy security measures, will be paid with no strings attached, despite the bloc

00:18 having frozen other funds to Hungary over rule of law concerns and democratic backsliding.

00:24 The surprise move comes just days after Viktor Orban`s government unveiled a controversial

00:29 billboard campaign targeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and accused

00:34 the EU of wanting to create migrant ghettos in Hungary in a national consultation.

00:39 Budapest has also threatened to block the EU`s proposed 50 billion euro financial package

01:07 for Ukraine, sparking fears Orban could use his veto on EU foreign policy as a bargaining

01:13 chip for EU funds.

01:31 The cash comes from the Repower EU chapter of Hungary`s plan, designed to reduce dependency

01:37 on Russian fossil fuels through investments in renewable energy and green transport. The

01:43 920 million euros will be paid in two installments over the next 12 months, pending the approval

01:49 of EU finance ministers.

01:51 But further payments can only be made if Orban meets so-called super milestones, by cracking

01:57 down on corruption and improving the independence of the Hungarian judiciary. And the Commission

02:03 could recover the funds if he does not comply.

02:07 If we find that certain amounts, regular payments should not be made because certain milestones

02:13 and targets were not met, then the Commission has a possibility to recover the respective

02:20 pre-financing amount.

02:23 The Commission says Hungary has presented the third most ambitious green recovery plan

02:27 in the block, after Luxembourg and Denmark.

02:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended