Budapest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Viktor Orban, Hungary’s PM, said on Saturday that Hungary’s government will not support the EU’s new seven-year budget until all of the EU’s suspended funds are unlocked.
This month, the European Commission released a EU budget proposal of 2 trillion euros for 2028 to 2034. The proposal emphasises a significant focus on economic competitiveness and defence. Budget negotiations can be among the most difficult topics in EU politics, and disputes over the budget reveal the political and economic rifts among EU member states.
Orban has had disagreements with the EU for 15 years concerning migration policy, policies limiting LGBTQ rights, and what Orban’s critics would call a decline in democracy in Hungary. The EU has withheld billions of funding directed towards Hungary during a disagreement over rule of law.
“The approval of the new seven-year budget requires unanimity and until we get the remaining (frozen) funds, there won’t be a new EU budget either,”
Orban said in a speech at a summer university in the Romanian town of Baile Tusnad.
What accusations did Orban level against Brussels?
He condemned the EU for backing Kyiv, also accusing Brussels of conspiring to create a
“pro-Ukraine and pro-Brussels governing group”
in Hungary at next year’s national election.
Then Orban said “globalist bureaucrats” were plotting to “drain Europe’s money into Ukraine” while “our farmers are rising up to defend their future”.
He also stated that the EU’s current leadership is steering the bloc toward a trade war that Europe “cannot win.”
“The current leadership of the EU will always be the last to sign deals with the United States and always the worst deals,”
Orban added, demanding a change in the EU’s leadership.
How does Orban justify his stance on Ukraine aid?
Orbán had repeatedly utilised Hungary’s power of veto to stop EU decisions on Ukraine and issues related to EU sanctions on Russia. He noted in mid-2025 that Hungary halted negotiations on Ukraine’s membership in the EU, on the premise that admitting a country that was at war would make Hungary also a party to a war.
He indicated that entering into a treaty, like the one proposed by the EU, could jeopardise Hungary’s security and increase the difficulty of unity in the EU.
How much EU funding is still suspended for Hungary?
Depending on unconfirmed reports, as of now, the EU has suspended approximately €18 billion of reserved funds for Hungary as a result of the rule-of-law saga. This total includes roughly €8.4 billion of cohesion funds and €9.5 billion of COVID recovery funds.
The funds are still frozen because Hungary has not undertaken all of the required legislative reforms (particularly those regarding judicial independence and anti-corruption) demanded by the EU. While €10.2 billion was unfrozen after Hungary implemented some limited reforms in late 2023, the remaining €18 billion remains blocked, and there is no breakthrough on the horizon.
