Die Presse: without EU funds, Hungary will face much worse recession

The Austrian newspaper Die Presse is sceptical about whether Hungary will receive EU funds. They say that if the EU money does not come, Hungary could face a recession worse than the European average.

Endgame for billions

“Endgame for the Union’s billions” (Endspiel um Ungarns EU-Milliarden) is the title of an article in Die Presse. The material was analysed by Klubrádió. The Austrian paper is sceptical, contrary to the optimistic position of the Hungarian government. The author, Oliver Grimm, believes that it is far from certain that promising to reform the system of judicial and public procurement procedures will be enough for the EU to start disbursing funds.

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“If Hungary remains in disgrace, the forint will weaken further and the country could fall into a recession even more severe than the European average,” writes Die Presse. The article then describes Orbánland’s “massive corruption system”, in which people close to the government win public contracts. However, the article suggests that it is possible that it is not the entire 7-year budget that will be withdrawn from Hungary in Brussels, but only part of it.

EU funds may come in autumn?

Two days ago, Tibor Navracsics, the Minister responsible for the use of EU funds, said that an agreement on the EU Recovery Fund could be reached in the second half of autumn. “I hope that around the beginning of September it will be clear to us in which direction we can continue to negotiate”, Mandiner quotes the Minister as saying.

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“It is not dependent on us to compromise. The answer, I think, is a good answer from the Hungarian government, which through the ongoing negotiations could be satisfactory for the European Commission, but we will wait for their assessment”, said Tibor Navracsics in an interview with atv.hu.

The Minister is equally optimistic about the seven-year budget: he said he was confident that “this, too, could be implemented sometime in the first half of the autumn”, and that the issues related to the recovery fund would be resolved in the second half of the autumn.

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Source: Mandiner, Klubrádió, atv.hu