Hungary hopes “better cooperation” with the European Commission will free up billions of euros (dollars) in held-up funds, according to the minister in charge of the negotiations, as its economy struggles.
Brussels has so far refused to approve post-Covid reconstruction funds for Budapest, citing concerns over the rule of law and alleged corruption, making Hungary the only EU member not yet given the green light.
“There are obviously areas of disagreement between Budapest and the European Union at a high political level, but I think that much better cooperation in day-to-day exchanges is possible,” Tibor Navracsics, a minister in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s cabinet, told AFP in an interview this week.
Orban, who has ruled Hungary since 2010 and was re-elected by a landslide in April, has frequently clashed with Brussels over issues such as migration and LGBTQ rights.
In the back row, the nationalist prime minister said last week that Europe had “shot itself in the lungs” with sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while his foreign minister traveled to Moscow on Thursday to address tensions between the EU and Russia talking about buying more gas.
– ‘Indispensable’ –
Better communication is “essential for an agreement on the means” that are “very important” for Hungary, said Navracsics, who is considered a moderate in Orban’s cabinet.
The 56-year-old said work on finding a compromise was “continuing” but did not give a timeframe for the €5.8 billion ($5.9 billion) release.
Like the rest of Europe, Hungary is struggling with decades of inflation, despite the government having imposed price caps on a range of different products.
Thousands took to the streets last week to protest a tax law change that the government says is necessary for its budget.
The central European nation of almost 10 million, which is largely dependent on Russian oil and gas, last week declared a “state of danger” over the energy crisis.
The government “needs the money. There is tremendous fiscal pressure,” Gabor Gyori, an analyst at Budapest-based think tank Policy Solutions, told AFP.
“The truth is that Hungary is very dependent on both EU funds and Russian energy. It is a really difficult situation for the Orban government.”
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga presented two laws this week to improve transparency in the legislative process and better fight corruption.
These efforts brought an agreement with the EU Commission “within reach,” Varga said on Facebook.
– ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ –
But critics like Gyori doubt that Orban will make “real concessions in the fight against corruption.”
“That’s his dilemma. What is the minimum he can offer to get help? The problem is very systemic and I don’t see any major movements,” he said.
“It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” he added, referring to the government’s “double communication” – on the one hand to placate Brussels, but on the other to take measures that are sure to cause friction.
At the same time, the EU is under pressure not to let Hungary get away so easily, said Gyori.
In another row, Brussels in April triggered the so-called “conditionality” mechanism – never used before – against Hungary over concerns about Orban’s government misusing EU funds.
The two issues “are closely linked,” Navracsics said, adding that it was important to “strengthen the Hungarian rule of law so that there is no longer any doubt that Hungary … is a democracy like the EU members”.
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