Opposition: Govt Responsible For “Cutting Off”Access To EU, Norwegian Funds

Budapest, May 12 (MTI) – The government is responsible for “cutting off” Hungary’s access to Norwegian funds, opposition officials insisted on Monday.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry announced on Friday the suspension of funding under its Norway Grants scheme operating within the European Economic Area (EEA).

The Hungarian government has “moved the implementation and monitoring of the Grants scheme out of the central government administration. This is in breach of the agreements that have been entered into,” the Norwegian ministry said, adding that Hungary had made a unilateral decision in breach of the contract.

“Hungary’s actions in this matter are unacceptable. Unfortunately, the Hungarian Government has shown little willingness to find solutions that comply with the agreements Hungary has entered into. We have therefore decided to suspend payments until this matter has been resolved,’ said Minister of EEA and EU Affairs Vidar Helgesen.

In late April, the European Commission asked Hungary to address concerns over a new system for tapping European Union funding, highlighting the transformation of the funding system and the effective operation of the management and control system. It did not suspend actual funding, however.

Bernadett Szel, LMP’s co-leader, told a press conference that the government had committed an error rendering the entire funding application system dysfunctional. She insisted that the system had not been operating over the past six months, causing an economic loss for the country “since almost all development projects have been covered from EU funds,” she said.