EU funds for Hungary: the cash register is ringing in Budapest

It is a success for the new pro-European Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar: The EU Commission decided on Wednesday in Brussels to release 4.2 billion euros from the EU Cohesion Fund. The money was previously on hold due to numerous violations of the rule of law under Magyar's predecessor Viktor Orbán. However, the EU states must agree before a payment can be made.

During the election campaign, Magyar promised to quickly bring the frozen EU funds back to Hungary and thus stimulate the economy. At first it looked like a “mission impossible” because some of the funds had already expired and there were also tight deadlines. Nevertheless, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the release of 16.4 billion euros in May.

“Hungary has taken important steps to strengthen the rule of law and protect the EU’s financial interests,” said von der Leyen. Her authority concluded that Hungary had addressed the numerous deficiencies in public procurement, anti-corruption, risk of conflicts of interest and law enforcement.

That is why the first tranche should now be released. Hungary should also regain access to the popular study and research exchange programs Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe. The decision comes surprisingly quickly. The new Hungarian government only informed the EU Commission of the required reforms and “remedial measures” on September 9, 2026.

Doubts are therefore being raised in the European Parliament. It is said that Brussels did not have enough time to examine the measures. In addition, the reforms would first have to be put into practice before EU money could flow again. In order to get an idea of ​​the situation, several German MEPs want to travel to Budapest at the beginning of October and examine the implementation.

It is still unclear “how well the reforms will work in practice,” said Green MP Daniel Freund, who denounced the rule of law violations under Orbán. It is “naive” to believe that “the corrupt system that Orbán has built over the years” has “disappeared” after four months. Freund said he expected “more thoroughness” from the commission.

Meanwhile, Magyar is pushing for Brussels to pay out the remaining EU money soon. A large amount is still outstanding: 10 billion euros from the Corona development fund. However, it is controversial whether Hungary can still meet the deadline set by the EU. Officially, this deadline ended on August 31st - three weeks later, still no decision has been made.