London, Nov 24: The European Commission has approved a revised version of Hungary’s recovery and resilience plan, a decision that will see Euro 920 million be given to Budapest, no strings attached, reported Euronews.The amendment adds Euro 4.6 billion (Euro 3.9 billion in low-interest loans and 0.7 billion euros in non-repayable grants) to the previously endorsed plan, making a total of 10.4 billion euros in EU funds to be disbursed in gradual tranches over the next years.
The revision of the recovery and resilience plan is a part of the European Union’s RePower, part of the Union’s plan to diversify away from imported fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition.
The RePower plan was introduced in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Countries are entitled to receive 20 per cent of their allocated cash under RePower EU as “pre-financing” to provide liquidity and kick-start clean energy projects. In Hungary’s case, the “pre-financing” amounts to Euro 920 million, which will be paid out in two separate tranches over the next twelve months, reported Euronews.
The remainder of the Euro 10.4 billion plan remains strictly linked to the fulfilment of 27 “super milestones,” a series of reforms related to the fight against corruption, the strengthening of judicial independence and the establishment of audit systems. Notably, the Euro 920 million going to Hungary does not come with extra conditions.
Hungary has been said to have made substantial progress in completing their “super milestones”. The Commission’s positive assessment, released on Thursday afternoon, still needs to be approved by a qualified majority of member states.
The green light is widely expected to happen, as governments follow an unwritten gentlemen’s agreement under which they do not block each other’s national plans once the Commission gives its blessing, nevertheless, the Euro 920 million set for Hungary will undoubtedly be controversial within the bloc, Euronews has reported.
In reaction to what he calls “financial blackmail,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has adopted a filibustering position and threatened to wield his veto power to derail key collective decisions, including the opening of membership talks with Ukraine, which applied for EU membership four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The far-right nationalist leader, Victor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, last month, becoming the first EU leader to have a bilateral meeting with the Russian President since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in 2022.