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The Brussels authority announced on Thursday that it had approved Hungarian plans to deploy EU corona aid. These made it possible to make advances of the above amount from a program to transform the European energy system. This program is intended to make the EU independent of fossil fuels from Russia as quickly as possible.
According to the Commission, the Council of the Member States must now give permission to start the transfer of 900 million euros. A spokeswoman emphasized that other payments remain subject to the implementation of the reform requirements. These are intended to ensure that Hungary does not violate EU constitutional standards.
In total, Hungary could receive Corona aid worth 10.4 billion euros, of which 6.5 billion euros in the form of grants and 3.9 billion euros in loans.
German Green Party politician Daniel Freund called on EU governments to block the payment of almost one billion euros by vetoing the Commission’s decision. “Nothing has improved in the rule of law situation in Hungary,” he criticized. “Releasing funds of this magnitude here sends a completely wrong signal.”
Hungary had recently threatened several times to block EU aid plans for Ukraine. Officially he justifies this with doubts about the effectiveness of previous financial and military aid.
However, the EU partners believe that it is likely that Prime Minister Viktor Orban is actually interested in releasing frozen EU funding for his country. In concrete terms, this concerns regular EU budget resources amounting to more than 13 billion euros. The European Commission announced about a year ago that it would only release the funds if Orbán’s right-wing nationalist government fully complied with promises to uphold the rule of law.
A Commission spokesperson emphasized on Thursday that the positive decision on the Hungarian plans was not a concession to Orbán. The rules were followed when assessing the Hungarian plans. Unlike other payments, no conditions can be attached to the advances from the so-called REPowerEU program.
(SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
