European funding requested by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been frozen by the commission pending reforms to improve the rule of law in Hungary, Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Groove recalled on the second day of a European summit in Brussels.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, Hungary blocked talks between European leaders on the EU budget and long-term financial aid for Ukraine. Work will resume in early 2024. Speaking on national radio, Viktor Orbán said the aid was conditional on Ukraine releasing all EU funds to Hungary, billions of which had been blocked due to violations of the law.
Alexander de Crou insisted that his Hungarian counterpart had not made this argument earlier in the day. “These funds have been frozen because of reforms to the rule of law and the fight against corruption.“, he recalled.I haven’t seen any improvement, the only improvement is that they don’t freeze.“
“(Victor Orban) As long as you say the wrong thing, but do the right thing, everything is fine“, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas summarized for his part. The Hungarian, on Thursday, did not oppose the opening of the EU accession negotiations with Kiev. The President of the Council, Charles Michael, announced the green light for the opening of the institution. On the other hand, in the budget discussions, despite the 26 states, twenty-seven could not reach a consensus.Strong support“Last proposal on the table.”Major steps have been taken to achieve common ground. It will take a few weeks to get there“, said Alexander de Crewe.
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