Prime Minister Péter Magyar has given up on 2.1 billion euros from the funds “secured by [former prime minister] Viktor Orbán during tough negotiations”, the Fidesz-Christian Democrats European parliamentary group said on Wednesday.
The group said that further details of the “Brussels-Tisza Pact” had come to light. They added that in 2022 the European Commission initiated the freezing of 6.3 billion euros in EU funding from the cohesion funds due to Hungary.
MEPs from the former governing coalition said that President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had made it clear in early 2024 that 20 billion euros in EU funds due to Hungary would remain frozen until “our country meets Brussels’ politically coercive conditions”.
They added that the reasons for the suspension of the funds included concerns regarding LGBTQ rights, academic freedom and the right to asylum.
“Following the change of government, Péter Magyar’s administration fulfilled all of Brussels’ political conditions,” they said.
“Brussels cannot formulate a demand that Péter Magyar and his colleagues would not fulfil enthusiastically, diligently and obsequiously. The question is what will be Brussels’ next demand?” the Fidesz-KDNP group added in its statement.
The Council of the EU decided on Tuesday to conclude the conditionality procedure against Hungary, allowing Hungary access to 4.2 billion euros in funding.
Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said that the Fidesz-Christian Democrats delegation demands full transparency regarding the contents of the political agreement between the Tisza government and the European Commission.
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Speaking to Hungarian journalists, Dömötör said “it has become clear in recent weeks that, in exchange for EU funds, the Tisza government is expected to meet demands formulated by the European Commission over the past few years, demands that the previous government consistently rejected.”
The new Hungarian government is implementing the “list of demands” that the previous government was also well aware of but had resisted, he said.
“The only question remaining is what are the as-yet-unknown demands? Will they alter the personal income tax system, tamper with family benefits, and actually raise the corporate tax?” he asked.
Since these measures affect the lives, livelihoods, and jobs of millions of Hungarians, “we demand full transparency”: all key details of the agreement must be made public, Dömötör said.
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