Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar is welcomed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of a meeting at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels [Olivier Hoslet/EPA]By Edna Mohamed, AFP and ReutersPublished On 29 May 202629 May 2026
The European Union has announced it will unlock 16.4 billion euros ($19bn) for Hungary in a major win for the newly elected Prime Minister, Peter Magyar.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Friday that the bloc was ready to release the funds that were frozen when Viktor Orban was in power.
Under Orban’s rule, the EU froze about 18 billion euros ($21bn) in funds earmarked for Budapest due to democratic backsliding, corruption and the treatment of LGBTQ issues.
Von der Leyen told reporters that the EU would unlock 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) from the recovery fund, called Next Generation EU, and 4.2 billion euros ($4.8bn) in cohesion funds, with a further 2.2 billion euros ($2.5bn) as the reforms are completed.
“That is quite a sum, but … the Hungarian people deserve it. Again, many, many thanks for the outstanding work that has been done,” she told a media conference after talks with Magyar in Brussels.
“We can already feel a strong wind of change across Hungary.”
“In only a few weeks, you [Magyar] have driven forward long overdue reforms,” she added.
Magyar, whose party holds a large majority in parliament, has begun initial reforms and on Wednesday voted to drop Orban’s plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
In a reversal from last year when the event was banned under Orban, police said on Friday they would not ban next month’s Pride parade in Budapest.
Magyar described the release of the funds as a “historic day”, saying that they “fought for each cent”.
“We will bring this money home, as we promised, to rebuild Hungary, to jump-start the economy, to restore and develop public services, and to strengthen the competitiveness of Hungarian companies and small and medium-sized enterprises,” Magyar told reporters.
The prime minister, who won last month’s election in April after pledging to secure EU funding, said the EU money amounts to about 13 percent of Hungary’s budget.
The bulk of the frozen funds is from the EU’s COVID recovery fund, and Hungary had until the end of August to present a new plan to secure them.
EU officials have said that if all steps are completed in time, Budapest could expect the first disbursement of money before the year ends.
