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Hungary is on a “clear and steadfast” path toward restoring the rule of law, and the EU will work with Budapest to evaluate progress — a key step toward unlocking the bloc’s frozen funds, European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath told Euronews’s Europe Today show.
McGrath also announced he would travel to Budapest next week to meet Márta Görög, the country’s justice minister, “to agree on the reforms and look at the progress that they intend to make over the months ahead.”
“So far they have demonstrated a very clear and steadfast commitment on this path,” McGrath said.
McGrath’s remarks come ahead of a meeting in Brussels between Hungary’s new prime minister Peter Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to unlock €17 billion in EU funds frozen over concerns about corruption and rule-of-law deficiencies.
Budapest must now fulfil all remaining conditions by the end of August to access the funds, with the first payments potentially arriving before the end of the year.
But dismantling 16 years of increasingly authoritarian rule under former prime minister Viktor Orbán is far from straightforward.
Hungary has faced numerous EU rule-of-law procedures over the years, including the ongoing Article 7 process launched by the European Parliament in 2018 over concerns related to judicial independence, corruption, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and the rights of minorities and migrants, among other issues.
As a result, the EU decided to freeze billions in euros of funding including 10 billion euros ($13 billion) from the post-pandemic Recovery Fund.
The situation shifted after Magyar secured a sweeping victory in April’s parliamentary elections, having pledged throughout the campaign to make the fight against corruption and alleged state capture by Fidesz a central priority of his agenda.
In its election manifesto, Magyar’s Tisza Party pledged to restore checks and balances and strengthen the independence of the courts, the prosecutor’s office and constitutional institutions.
The party also vowed to establish a new anti-corruption body — the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office — and reform public procurement rules.
McGrath said he will look at the country’s commitments to put these changes in place. “We are there to work with them and support them,” he said.