BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary aims to conclude financing talks with the European Union by the end of November to unlock billions of euros worth of funding suspended due to concerns over democratic standards, the country’s top negotiator said on Tuesday.
Senior European Union officials said this month that the EU was considering unlocking billions of euros for Hungary that were frozen over rule-of-law concerns as it seeks to win Budapest’s approval for aid to Ukraine including a start to membership talks for Kyiv.
EU officials told Reuters that laws passed by Hungary this summer to increase judicial independence had brought a deal closer on unfreezing part of around 22 billion euros in economic development aid.
Tibor Navracsics told a business forum that Budapest had answered the European Commission’s questions on implementation, adding that he would travel to Brussels on Thursday with Janos Boka, a top EU affairs aide, for talks with EU officials.
“Our goal is to hopefully wrap up the negotiations on the conditionality procedure shortly, I trust that we can finalise by the end of November,” Navracsics said.
He added that Hungary could then launch EU-backed projects swiftly, financed from the 2021-2027 EU financing framework.
The funds would give a much-needed boost to Hungary’s economy, which is struggling to recover from its longest recession since modern records started, stifled by the EU’s highest inflation and a steep fall in consumption.
The row over the funds has also put pressure on Hungary’s forint, with the central bank striking a cautious tone on further monetary easing after 500 basis points worth of rate cuts since May to 13%, still the EU’s highest benchmark.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Krisztina Than, editing by Ed Osmond)
