Hungary won major battle in Brussels yesterday?

Hungary has won “a major battle” in Brussels, securing access to the whole tranche of the country’s EU recovery monies and unsuspended parts of its cohesion funding, according to a Centre for Fundamental Rights political analyst.

Hungary will have the opportunity to access the rest of cohesion funds at a later point, Levente Szikra told public broadcaster M1 on Tuesday, adding that the deal meant more battles lay ahead. Still, market confidence in Hungary is likely to improve, he added. The analyst said Hungary had fulfilled all its commitments in connection with the suspended funds and represented its interests in Brussels “very effectively”, though European Parliament pressure meant the government had not reached its aims entirely.

• Read also: An unprecedented change occurred in the Hungarian real estate market!

EU ambassadors propose approval of Hungary recovery plan

The ambassadors of European Union members have positively assessed Hungary’s recovery plan which awaits the a decision of European Union leaders, the European Council said on Monday. The council also said at the same time that the Committee of Permanent Representatives has proposed suspending payment of cohesion funds to the country totalling 6.3 billion euros. If the proposal is accepted and Hungary completes 27 “milestone” reforms to reinforce the rule of law, it may access 5.8 billion euros of EU recovery funding to offset the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and finance the transition to a green and digital economy, the council’s statement said.