EU moves to block subsidies to Hungary
Two days after nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a fourth consecutive term, European Union officials on Tuesday moved to hold Hungary accountable for what the bloc’s leaders say are violations of the rule of law, initiating for the first time a procedure that could withhold billions of euros in subsidies.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the immediate concern was about corruption. Orban has for years been accused of enriching his associates with EU money intended to support infrastructure, agriculture and other programs. And a new mechanism allows the bloc to suspend the self-management of subsidies by countries that allow the misuse of EU funds.
Von der Leyen said a formal letter was on its way to Budapest outlining the intentions of the EU’s executive arm to trigger what’s known as the “conditionality mechanism.”
At least 15 of the 27 member states — representing about 290 million people out of the total population of more than 440 million — would need to endorse it. From start to finish, cutting funds could take between six to eight months, an EU official said Tuesday.
Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, responded to von der Leyen’s announcement by comparing Brussels to the prime minister’s domestic opposition — a mistake, he said, “as Hungarians have just rejected it by a large majority.”