Political situation in Hungary

EU criticized – gave Orbán frozen money back

The EU Commission should never have returned ten billion euros in frozen funds to Hungary. This is according to Tamara Capeta, the top advisor to the European Court of Justice, who recommends that the 2023 decision be overturned, writes AFP.

The EU Parliament took the Commission to court after the decision, accusing it of bowing to Orbán's government after the Hungarian Prime Minister's threat to block aid to Ukraine.

According to the Parliament, Hungary had not met the legal certainty requirements required to get the funds back.

"The Commission may not distribute EU funds to a member state before the necessary legal reforms have entered into force and are effectively implemented," writes Capeta.

Orbán on the EU Court's criticism of money: "Absurd"

It would be "absurd" if the EU Commission were to demand back the ten billion euros in frozen funds that Hungary has received back, the country's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tells Politico.

His advisor Balázs Orbán adds:

- As soon as a member state deviates from the script of the European elite, the legal machinery is set in motion.

Earlier today, the EU Court's top advisor Tamara Capeta recommended that the decision be overturned, because Hungary had not strengthened legal certainty sufficiently to meet the demands.

It was in 2023 that the Commission decided to give Hungary back the money. The EU Parliament then took the Commission to the EU Court of Justice, accusing it of bowing to Orbán's threats to block aid to Ukraine.