Hungary could lose EU resources if it refuses to join EPPO, says MEP Ujhelyi

European Union resources could remain frozen as long as Hungary refuses to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi said on Tuesday.

Ujhelyi said in a statement that MEPs from several countries were preparing a proposal to freeze EU resources if Hungary does not join the EPPO. If the proposal is approved, then decision-makers in Brussels will not release support currently held back from Hungary unless the Hungarian government offers sufficient guarantees about the protection of these resources, including joining the EPPO, he added.

“This will not pose a problem if Péter Marki-Zay forms the next government because the united opposition have made it clear that they intend to act in this manner. Fidesz, however, continues to rigidly reject cooperation with the European prosecutor authority,”

he said.

Ujhelyi said Fidesz’s refusal was not based on principles or to protect national sovereignty but simply because “they hope that this way they can get away with stealing EU support without being called to account for it”.

If Fidesz remains in power, this will certainly remain unchanged, Ujhelyi said. However,

if the opposition can form government, then Hungary will join the EPPO and can draw down all the EU support allocated, he added.

As we wrote last year, the opposition Socialists called on the government to have Hungary join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), details HERE.

As we wrote in February, Hungary’s Chief Public Prosecutor Péter Polt and Ville Itala, Director-General of OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud body, signed a working agreement on further strengthening the two organisations’ professional cooperation along the lines of common goals and interests. Details HERE.

Source: MTI