Frozen funds

Orbán threatens to veto next EU budget

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is confident that the money from Brussels will flow.(Bild: APA/AFP/Attila KISBENEDEK)

Almost twelve billion euros in EU funds are currently being withheld by the EU Commission due to a dispute over the rule of law in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is confident that his country will soon receive the funding - including from the Cohesion Fund. If necessary, the current EU Council President wants to block the Union's next multi-annual budget with a veto.

For the multiannual financial framework to be approved, all member states would have to agree, Orbán recalled in an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday. "I can safely say that I will not contribute (to the approval of the budget)" if the still blocked funds for Hungary are not included in the next long-term budget, said the right-wing conservative head of government, who has also put pressure on the EU Commission with veto threats on several occasions. 

Hungary's head of government Viktor Orbán in a clinch with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over blocked EU funds(Bild: APA/AFP/Ferenc ISZA)

Negotiations on the next long-term EU budget from 2028 to 2035 are expected to begin in mid-2025. The money earmarked for Hungary to strengthen structurally weak regions and from the Corona Reconstruction Fund is tied to reforms that Brussels is demanding by the end of the year. The main focus is on combating corruption and conflicts of interest between business and politics.

"We must prevent factories from closing in Hungary"
Hungary has one of the lowest growth rates in the EU and one of the highest budget deficits. Most recently, Orbán's governing party Fidesz even fell behind the opposition TISZA party of his former confidant Péter Magyar in the polls. This naturally increases the domestic political pressure on Orbán, who also recalled in connection with EU funding that Germany and France, the two most important economic powers in the EU, are currently plunging into a political crisis.

The Hungarian head of government is naturally also concerned about factories and jobs in Hungary. "We must ensure that no factories close in Hungary," says Orbán. The EU billions are of course needed for this purpose.