Hungary is ready to make concessions to Brussels regarding necessary reforms to avoid funding cuts by the EU for "breaching rule of law," Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2022) Hungary is ready to make concessions to Brussels regarding necessary reforms to avoid funding cuts by the EU for "breaching rule of law," Hungarian EU Affairs Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Friday.
The EU parliament voted on Thursday in favor of a report calling for the European Council's decision to recognize the existence of a "clear risk" of Hungary breaching EU values. European lawmakers voiced concerns over the functioning of the Hungarian constitutional and electoral systems, independence of the judiciary, corruption, and Budapest's observance of human rights. The parliament recommended reducing funding for Hungary as part of the economic recovery plan.
"We are open to all options. We can negotiate," Navracsics was quoted by the Financial Times as saying.
The minister added that there was consensus on the anti-corruption authority in Hungary, which could serve as proof of Budapest's willingness to deliver on its promises.
The minister also stated that he was hopeful Hungary and Brussels would manage to agree on financing by November, and it would be "completely understandable" if the EU demanded monitoring to make sure that Budapest sticks to its commitments amid lack of trust between the sides.
Hungary should receive around 22 billion Euros ($22 billion) as part of the EU budget for the period of 2021-2027, according to the Financial Times. It is also planning to get extra seven billion euros ($7 billion) of grants, with some billions more in loans under the recovery fund.
In July 2020, the leaders of EU countries agreed to introduce the NextGenerationEU instrument, a 750-billion-euro� ($750 billion) rescue fund aimed at helping EU member states mitigate the economic effects of COVID-19 restrictions. These are separate from the EU budget of 1.082 trillion euro for the period of 2021-2027, recently approved by the EU Parliament.
