A delegation of the European Commission is visiting Budapest on Friday, 17 April, to start negotiations with Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party on unblocking currently frozen EU funding of more than €30 billion.

Speaking on Thursday, Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho said the purpose of the visit is to ‘launch discussion’ on the ‘most important EU matters as soon as possible’ in the interest of ‘both Hungary and the European Union’.

‘Whether it concerns the Ukraine loan or the recovery funds, it is in the interest of both Hungary and the EU to move forward as soon as possible. These are therefore preliminary talks aimed at ensuring that once the new government takes office, action can begin immediately and no time is lost. That is the purpose and framework of this meeting,’ Pinho stressed.

The 27 Super Milestones

The meeting is taking place five days after Tisza secured a landslide victory in what has been described as the most significant election in Hungary’s post-communist history. By winning a supermajority in the 199-seat parliament, Tisza ended the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán and Fidesz–KDNP, which had been characterized by constant confrontation with the European Commission on issues ranging from rule-of-law concerns, migration and foreign policy to media, judicial, and academic freedom.

Brussels decided in December 2022 to block the disbursement of several funds under the so-called rule-of-law mechanism, setting out 27 ‘super milestones’ for the Hungarian government to implement in order to unlock the money.

These conditions cover a wide range of structural reforms, including anti-corruption measures, public procurement transparency, judicial independence, and broader fundamental rights guarantees. Crucially, no payment can be made until all 27 milestones are fully and correctly implemented, making them the central benchmark in any negotiation between Budapest and the Commission.

While there were talks between the Orbán government and the Commission initially, they stalled from 2024 as relations increasingly deteriorated, largely due to Hungary’s differing stance on the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. The Orbán government also considered the implementation of many of the super milestones as giving up Hungary’s sovereignty.

The Four-Point Plan of Magyar

Magyar and the Tisza Party campaigned on a pro-EU platform, promising to bring home EU funding, similarly to how Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk—the closest EU ally of Magyar—defeated the Law and Justice (PiS) government, then Orbán’s closest ally in the EU, in 2023.

Speaking at his first international press conference as prime minister-elect on Monday, Magyar outlined a four-point plan which he hopes will be sufficient to unlock resources. ‘These are anti-corruption measures, including joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office,’ Magyar said, referring to the EU’s prosecutorial body, which Hungary—alongside Ireland and Denmark—has chosen not to join. ‘The second is to restore the independence of the judiciary and investigative authorities, the third is to ensure freedom of the press, and the fourth is to liberate Hungarian universities and academic freedom,’ he added.

Comparing the four-point plan with the super milestones, Magyar’s proposals cover around 70 per cent of the Commission’s conditions. The remaining 30 per cent, however, concern politically and ideologically more sensitive issues, mainly compliance with EU asylum and migration policy and LGBTQ+ rights.

During the press conference, Magyar said he seeks to maintain a ‘very strict position’, rejecting ‘any pact or allocation mechanism’, and confirmed that his government intends to keep the southern border fence built under Orbán in 2015. He also criticized the EU’s handling of mass migration, while suggesting that mostly administrative and legal adjustments would be sufficient to meet the conditions in these areas.

‘Magyar’s proposals cover around 70 per cent of the Commission’s conditions’

During the campaign, Magyar largely avoided addressing LGBTQ+ issues, as doing so would have opened a significant line of attack from the governing parties. After Tisza’s victory, he said Hungary should be a country ‘where no one is stigmatized for loving someone differently than the majority’, signalling a more progressive position than Orbán. Still, it remains unclear whether this would be sufficient to meet the Commission’s conditions.

According to media reports, the European Commission also expects Hungary to lift its veto on the joint EU loan to Ukraine as part of an agreement on releasing funds. Magyar stated that he would not block the loan, but that Hungary would maintain the opt-out negotiated by Orbán in December 2025.

Taken together, there is a significant amount of work—and likely compromise on national sovereignty—required for the new government to unlock the funding, and time is not on its side. Part of the funding, from the Covid-19 recovery instrument, will be lost completely after the 31 August deadline.

The government is expected to be inaugurated at the earliest on 5 May, leaving roughly three and a half months to make progress on the conditions, and it remains unclear whether the Commission would release any funds if only part of the requirements are met. ‘There will be ample opportunity to discuss the new government’s position and proceed accordingly,’ Paula Pinho said on Thursday.

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