Hungary can count on almost a billion euros in EU subsidies, without having to repair its damaged rule of law, for example. Other subsidies for Hungary have been frozen for a long time for this reason, but the European Commission is releasing 920 million euros to make the energy supply more sustainable.
Brussels and Budapest have been arguing for years about EU subsidies, which the EU withholds as long as judges and journalists in Hungary, among others, cannot do their work independently. This does not ensure that EU money is spent properly, the committee believes. But negotiations are taking place behind the scenes, for example to prevent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from obstructing aid to Ukraine.
The amount that Hungary now has in view is an advance on a scheme that should make EU countries less dependent on gas from Russia, for example. If the governments of the 27 EU member states agree, Hungary can expect to receive the amount soon.
To raise the entire 4.6 billion euros that the country is claiming, it will have to do a lot more. The 111 conditions that the EU Budapest has set for money from the corona recovery fund apply. These conditions do not apply to an advance such as this, to ensure that Member States can start work on the subsidized projects.
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