– There is no money in the world that we would let migrants into the country and LGBTQ propagandists into schools – the Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán alluding to the 20 billion Euros that are still withheld by the European Commission due to their alleged rule-of-law concerns. On January 18, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the violation of the rule of law in Hungary. MEPs also expressed disapproval of the European Commission's decision to unlock EUR 10.2 billion from previously frozen EU funds for Budapest. 'We cannot be financially blackmailed in these matters, as they are more important than money,' stated the head of the government in Budapest, arguing that these issues are the real reason for the freezing of EU funds for Hungary.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Kossuth Rádió. Photo by MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltán Fischer
On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated in the European Parliament that approximately €20 billion of EU funds allocated for Hungary are still frozen due to concerns related to issues such as LGBTIQ rights, academic freedom, and the right to asylum in the country. Earlier in mid-December, the European Commission unlocked 10.2 billion euros of frozen cohesion policy funds for Hungary. President von der Leyen defended the Commission's recent decision to disburse a portion of previously withheld EU funds. This move comes in light of Hungary's commitment to implementing judicial reforms in response to numerous EU recommendations, she clarified.
Many members of European Parliament urged EU leaders "not to give into Hungary’s blackmail", to provide further information about the Commission’s unblocking of elements of EU funding that were frozen due to the rule of law mechanism, and to respond to Parliament’s Article 7 requests.
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The 21.77 billion euros is the amount of EU cohesion funds that Hungary is to get from the EU's long-term budget between 2021 and 2027. Moreover, the value of the Hungarian National Reconstruction Plan is EUR 10.4 billion, including €6.5 billion in grants and €3.9 billion in loans (the plan covers 67 reforms and 47 investments).
The Hungarian Prime Minister stated that the EU intends to apply financial pressure on Hungary in an effort to induce changes to its laws, but 'this won't work'.
Viktor Orbán stated in a radio interview that 'it is good if there is EU money', but the funding was not 'a large amount relative to the size of the Hungarian economy'. He underlined that Hungary was able to overcome two economic crises related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the highest inflation in the EU without assistance from Brussels. 'The Hungarian nation proved in 2023 that our economy is crisis-resistant, even without EU funds, and that it can overcome the most difficult periods', he emphasized. Viktor Orbán added that the was There is 'no money in the world' that we could convince Hungarians 'to hand over their children to LGBTQ propagandists'. The PM of Hungary added that the upcoming European electrions would be about the issues of 'migration, our families and the war'.
The head of the Hungarian government also noted that inflation in Hungary had been pushed down from 25 percent to around 6 percent without European Union help. He added that Hungary's future looks bright in 2024 in terms of economic growth. 'We will be in the front row of European comparisons', the Prime Minister stated.
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