EU unfreezes €2 billion for Hungary

The European Union has unfrozen about €2 billion for Hungary from its funds. European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaeker told Bloomberg .

He noted that the EC decided to release the funds after Hungary fulfilled the conditions related to education and gender equality.

In 2022, the European Union froze the allocation of about €30 billion to Hungary, citing problems with the rule of law in the country. In December 2023 , the EU announced that it would transfer €10.2 billion to the country from its cohesion fund because the republic had met requirements to strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

Now the amount of funds the EU continues to block has dropped to €19 billion, De Keersmaeker said. About half of this is COVID relief grants and loans .

The Hungarian authorities have long refused to approve the allocation of a four-year support package of €50 billion to Ukraine from EU funds due to the freezing of money for Hungary. However, on February 1, the leaders of the European Union countries nevertheless agreed on this aid package, having achieved the consent of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.