Overview
- Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar held talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Friday and told supporters a political agreement to unblock frozen funds is “very close.”
- The Commission has made clear it will not release large payments on promises alone and is seeking completed, legally robust changes because of a pending European Court of Justice ruling and lessons from Poland’s stalled reforms.
- To access roughly €10.4 billion in Covid recovery money and part of about €18 billion frozen overall, Hungary must submit a revised recovery plan and meet so‑called super milestones on the judiciary, anti‑corruption safeguards and public procurement.
- Magyar’s government holds a parliamentary supermajority that can pass laws quickly but faces practical limits because the presidency, the constitutional court head and the prosecutor general remain Orbán appointees who could block or legally challenge changes.
- If Brussels is satisfied, the funds would boost investment and ease Hungary’s economic strain and could restore cooperation with the EU on files such as Ukraine, but the Commission will monitor implementation closely to avoid another reversal of reforms.