Hungary: How EU Funds Are Now a Political Weapon to Enforce Brussels Ideology

The European Commission is preparing to release up to €17 billion in previously frozen EU funds to Hungary following the decisive electoral victory of pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule.

The package consists of roughly €10.4 billion from the EU’s post-Covid Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and around €6–7 billion in cohesion policy funds that had been blocked for years over alleged rule-of-law, judicial independence, anti-corruption, and academic freedom concerns.

In total, Hungary would get an amount worth about 13 per cent of its national budget in one go.