Viktor Orban’s Hungary, which is negotiating with Brussels to unblock European funds belonging to it, is accused of “blackmailing” the EU by opposing financial aid to Ukraine.

The leader of the nationalists reminded on Friday that he refuses the proposal of the European Commission to provide Ukraine with 18 billion euros in aid for 2023 in the form of loans, the interest on which will be covered by the member states. However, he was ready to pay a bilateral subsidy to Ukraine, which could reach 170 million euros, according to AFP, Agerpres reported.

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This blocking is “pure political blackmail”, the EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn condemned before the MEPs.

The Austrian watchdog is tasked with evaluating anti-corruption reforms announced by Budapest to get rid of a 7.5 billion euro freeze on European funds. Since April, Budapest has been the target of an EU procedure (“conditionality mechanism”) launched due to problems with corruption and during the awarding of public contracts.

Johannes Hahn assured that Budapest’s “ridiculous behavior” will not affect his assessment, which is due at the end of the month, European sources said.

Orbán’s Hungary is in the midst of negotiations with Brussels regarding the unblocking of European funds

Hungary is also in talks with Brussels to confirm its €5.8 billion recovery plan, which has been blocked for a year and a half on rule-of-law grounds.

A green light from the EU is looming over Hungary’s PNRR in the coming weeks, which will, however, provide for payments conditional on reforms aimed in particular at increasing the independence of the judiciary, according to several European sources.

Hungary is also accused of putting pressure on the EU by blocking the adoption of a 15% minimum tax on the profits of multinational companies. Before it, Poland also blocked the same file, but abandoned this measure after its PNRR was approved by the Commission.

The European Parliament wants to continue the procedure against Budapest

As for the European Parliament on Thursday, it assessed that the 17 measures announced by Hungary to avoid a 7.5 billion euro freeze were neither sufficient nor fully implemented, demanding the continuation of the procedure against Budapest. The final decision will be submitted to the Council of the EU after the conclusion of the Commission.

However, the Minister of Justice of Hungary Judith Varga said that she was “optimistic” about the possibility of reaching a “compromise”. She clarified that by Saturday, the scheduled deadline, she will send a letter to the Commission to detail the compliance with the reforms that her country has committed to and their continuation.

She called on Hungary’s European partners to show “political responsibility”, warning that the conditionality procedure should not be “hostage to particular political plans and undermine European unity”.

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