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Government positive about receiving EU euro billions but forint still weakens
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Hungary is “confident” that a deal can be reached with the European Commission which suits both parties and results in the country receiving its EU funding, Tibor Navracsics, the minister of regional development, said on Thursday in Brussels.
“We still intend to conclude talks in the shortest possible timeframe, which is why we’ve intensified consultations and discussions,” the minister told MTI after meeting Didier Reynders, the justice commissioner, and Johannes Hahn, the budget commissioner, on the implementation of “super milestone” measures connected with the release of EU funds.
The talks included areas in addition to justice, he noted. “[I’d] like to be able to reach an agreement by the end of November.”
He said talks were proceeding smoothly when it came to Erasmus and the issue of universities operating under foundations, and the positions of the sides, he added, were “very close”. Hungarian youth organisation may solve the Erasmus crisis Orbán cannot – Read more HERE.
Orbán will reach a behind-closed-doors deal with Brussels concerning the EU money?
Referring to a recent Financial Times report suggesting that the EC may shortly come to a deal with the government on condition that Hungary backs higher EU budget support for Ukraine, he said: “We don’t know anything about this, but we really do want to conclude negotiations as quickly as possible…” We wrote about a possible deal and how Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s Vice-President for Values and Transparency, reacted on that HERE.
Donald Tusk is going to put in the reforms on rule of law and democracy to unlock EU money but it won’t be easy because the presidency is still occupied by a hard-line PIS party member who will likely attempt to obstruct reforms. On top of that the judiciary and bureaucracy have been thoroughly manipulated to be stacked with PIS cronies just as has been done by Fidesz in Hungary. Fidesz party members constantly put on rosy projections about the economy and unlocking EU money and everything else they do but it is all pie in the sky. The Fidesz government is completely opposed to real reform because that would weaken their hold on political power. The EU, therefore, is most likely to keep holding back funding.