Overview
- The European Commission announced on May 29 that it has politically unblocked €16.4 billion in EU funds for Hungary after talks with the new prime minister, Péter Magyar.
- The package will not be paid immediately because Budapest must submit a revised recovery plan next week and meet agreed reforms that Brussels aims to approve in July before disbursements begin.
- The funding mix includes €10 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility split into €6.5 billion in grants and €3.5 billion in loans, €4.2 billion in cohesion funds, and €2.2 billion tied to academic freedom.
- Magyar’s recent trip to Brussels and his change of government helped secure the deal, which falls short of the roughly €18 billion he sought but restores access to money frozen since December 2022 over rule‑of‑law and corruption concerns.
- Brussels will monitor progress on corruption, judicial independence and education changes and some payments still need formal approval by other EU member states, a process that could affect timing and the scale of investment in public services and businesses.