Minister: Hungary does not support EU budget amedment, Ukraine accession

Hungary does not support the amendment of the European Union’s budget, nor the start of accession talks with Ukraine, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.

The government believes that the EU wants to amend the budget while it has not even implemented the current one, Gulyás said, adding that no impact study had been prepared on what effect the accession of Ukraine would have on the bloc as a whole.

Concerning problems in implementing the community budget, Gulyás mentioned the EU’s “failure to pay out to Hungary and Poland their due funding”, delays in payments from the recovery fund and a generally low level of payments. He added that the European Commission’s denying the funds from Hungary and Poland was unlawful.

Concerning Ukraine’s accession, Gulyás said no assessment of Ukraine’s complying with the EU’s entry criteria had ever been made. Furthermore, it is not clear what impact that country’s integration would have on the community’s cohesion funds, the common agricultural policy, and member states’ contributions to the common budget, he added. Meanwhile, the integration of the “much better prepared” Western Balkans is being delayed, he added.

On another subject, the minister said the government would extend interest rate freezes for small and medium-sized businesses, families and student loans. The rate freezes affect 30,000 businesses and 300,000 families, he said, adding that they needed to be protected from “high interest rates caused by Brussels’s ill-advised sanctions and the war”. The rate freezes are being extended until April 1 for SMEs and until July 1, 2024 for families and student loan holders, he said. Gulyás said the measures have so far helped businesses save 2.5 million forints each, and left 420,000 forints with each family.

Meanwhile, Gulyás said that the government would  provide companies a grant for setting up green energy storages.

The cabinet launched earlier a scheme with 70 billion forints for households to install solar panel systems and energy storage capacity he said, adding that so far several tens of thousands of families had applied for and received grants under the scheme.

The cabinet has now decided to expand the storage scheme for businesses, he said, adding that they could initially apply for central budget support and later for funding under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Businesses can submit their bids until February 5 next year and are required to complete their projects by April 30 in 2026, said Gulyás.

Answering a question, Gulyás said minimum wages would increase on December 1, but some of the benefits would only increase in January or February.

Concerning proposed changes to the election of the Budapest Assembly, Gulyás said both the current and the proposed system were democratic and district mayors would not be excluded from the assembly in the new system.

Answering another question, he said the government supported Sweden’s NATO accession, but added that “there have been many reasons for (ruling) Fidesz MP’s to have concerns” and parliament would vote “when (the bill) has sufficient support”.

Answering a question about the leftist opposition’s “attacking” the sovereignty protection law, Gulyás said “if somebody serves foreign interests and lets themselves be influenced by foreign interests they will not support an authority promoting the transparency of politics and ensuring its being free of influencing”. “There are international forces rather than (Hungarian) voters behind the Left,” Gulyás said, adding that critics of the new legislation could appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Answering questions about cooperative efforts by the opposition ahead of next year’s European Parliamentary elections, Gulyás said “on the left side Ferenc Gyurcsány continues to be the boss, it will happen as he wants.” He slammed the Momentum Movement for MEP Anna Donáth’s supporting Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony “also supported by Gyurcsany’s Democratic Coalition (DK)”, while Momentum had earlier rejected the possibility of cooperation.

“Momentum’s MPs and mayors are now switching over to DK one by one,” Gulyás insisted.

Government extends rate freeze for households, SMEs, student loans

Today’s cabinet briefing:

Hungary’s government has decided to extend interest rate freezes for small and medium-sized businesses, families and student loans, Gulyás said.

The rate freezes are being extended until April 1 for SMEs and until July 1, 2024 for families and student loan holders, Gergely Gulyás told a regular government press briefing.

The rate freezes affect 30,000 businesses and 300,000 families, he said, adding that they needed to be protected from “high interest rates caused by Brussels’s ill-advised sanctions and the war”.

Government to provide green energy storage grants to businesses

The government will provide companies a grant for setting up green energy storages, Gulyás said.

The cabinet launched earlier a scheme dubbed METarolo with 70 billion forints (EUR 184m) for households to install solar panel systems and energy storage capacity, Gergely Gulyás told a government press conference. So far several tens of thousands of families have applied for and received grants under the scheme, he said.

The cabinet has now decided to expand the storage scheme for businesses, he said, adding that they could initially apply for central budget support and later for funding under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Businesses can submit their bids until February 5 next year and are required to complete their projects by April 30 in 2026, said Gulyás.

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