Hungary secures release of 16.4 bln euros in EU funds after agreement with Brussels

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced Friday that Hungary had reached a political agreement with the European Union on the release of 16.4 billion euros (19.1 billion U.S. dollars) in previously frozen EU funds.

The agreement was reached following talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels and would unlock approximately 6,000 billion forints in EU resources, equivalent to about 13 percent of Hungary’s gross domestic product, Magyar said.

The package consists of 10 billion euros that can be unlocked under Hungary’s revised Recovery and Resilience Plan, subject to the implementation of agreed reforms and investments, as well as 4.2 billion euros in cohesion funds released after progress on governance-related conditions and a further 2.2 billion euros linked to reforms in higher education and academic freedom, according to von der Leyen.

The funding will support projects in energy, transport, housing, digitalization and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Magyar said the resources would also be available for electricity grid upgrades, railway modernization, rental housing projects, healthcare and education development, while several billion euros could be claimed for projects already completed or under implementation.

Speaking after the meeting, Magyar described the outcome as a “historic day” for Hungary. “We are taking home the thousands of billions of forints in European Union support that belong to the Hungarian people,” he said.

Von der Leyen said the agreement followed weeks of intensive cooperation between the European Commission and Hungary’s new government on reforms aimed at strengthening anti-corruption safeguards and the rule of law.

“We agreed on a robust architecture to ensure that Hungary addresses corruption and rule-of-law concerns,” she said, adding that Hungary had decided to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, strengthen its Integrity Authority, revise public procurement rules and gradually phase out public-interest trusts that had raised concerns about conflicts of interest and state capture.

According to von der Leyen, the reforms enabled the Commission to unlock funding previously frozen under various EU mechanisms. She said the two sides had agreed on “very concrete projects” supporting key sectors including energy, housing, transport and SMEs.

Von der Leyen also announced that Hungarian students would again be able to participate in the Erasmus exchange program from the next academic year, following progress on issues related to academic freedom and governance in higher education institutions.

Further details of the agreement are expected to be released in the coming days.

Russia said on Sunday that its forces launched massive strikes on Ukrainian military targets over the past 24 hours, while Ukraine reported that its troops attacked Russian oil and gas facilities.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its latest report that the Russian forces launched attacks on Ukrainian drone assembly and launch sites, fuel storage bases, ammunition depots, energy and transport facilities of Ukrainian forces, as well as positions of Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries.

The ministry also said that the Russian air forces shot down 405 Ukrainian drones.

On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said its troops carried out an overnight strike on the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia. The oil refinery is a key Russian fuel infrastructure with a designed annual refining capacity of seven million tons.

In addition, Ukrainian forces also attacked targets such as an oil pumping station in Russia’s Kirov region and a large oil storage facility in Rostov region on the same day.

The operator of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) said on Sunday that Ukraine struck a transport workshop at the plant and left six buses and two GAZelle vehiclesdestroyed. No plant personnel were injured, it said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones also struck Enerhodar, the satellite city of the nuclear plant, local authorities said.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone hit the turbine island of Unit 6 at the ZNPP, but Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces denied Russia’s allegation.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi expressed serious concern over the reported strike, warning that attacks on nuclear facilities are “like playing with fire.”

The Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europe’s largest nuclear power facilities, has been under Russian control since March 2022.