Hungarian government attacks EU where it hurts most

The European Parliament and EU Council negotiators have finalised the 2024 budget. But several countries, including the Hungarian government, are trying to block it.

The EU has reached an agreement

On Friday, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed on a common budget for 2024. That means a blueprint is now in place for what the union of states can commit to, under the supervision of the European Commission. The negotiations finally ended in a compromise. The final amount is EUR 189.4 billion, up from EUR 187 billion originally wanted by member states.

The European Parliament earmarked EUR 60 million for Erasmus+, EUR 85 million for Horizon Europe research and EUR 150 million for the neighbourhood and enlargement policy. The agreement also addressed the humanitarian needs arising from the conflict in Gaza, with EUR 250 million earmarked.

Under the agreement, many of the objectives will receive less spending, which many Member States did not like. A EUR 66 billion supplement for migration management, technology development and crisis management, as well as a EUR 50 billion aid package for Ukraine, were also discussed.

Hungary among the critical voices

Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, which are generally pro-austerity, also oppose the budget, but Hungary is the most vocal. The Hungarian government has publicly communicated that it will not vote for the nearly EUR 100 billion top-up until Hungarian payments blocked by various rule of law procedures are unblocked, portfolio.hu writes.

The other critical member states, on the one hand, are in favour of the loan, and on the other hand, they think that the aid to Ukraine should be covered in another way, because there is a good chance that someone would veto it, as Hungary has done many times. As an example, the Hungarian government now cites the fact that it held up aid to Ukraine until the end of last year – until the signing of the partnership agreement – just as it is not allowing payments to cover EU arms shipments from the European Peace Facility.

Renew MEP Valérie Hayer also criticised the agreement. According to her, this agreement prevents Europe from properly managing crises. Johannes Hahn, the EU’s budget commissioner, echoed this. Hahn stressed that no deal would be struck with the Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

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