Norway confirms suspension of funding to Hungary lifted

Oslo, December 10 (MTI) – Norway confirmed on Thursday that following a 19-month standoff, it had lifted the suspension of development funds to Hungary through the EEA and Norway Grants scheme.

Norway’s European Affairs Minister Vidar Helgesen told parliament that Hungary has promised not to interfere in the distribution of funds and that accusations of tax evasion had been dropped, Reuters reported.

“Hungarian authorities have now promised to stick to the signed agreements,” Helgesen told Reuters. “There is a message in this for the EU, in that it shows that it’s possible to handle these cases in a principled way,” he added.

On Thursday the Norwegian embassy in Budapest announced on its website that the Financial Mechanism Committee decided to lift the suspension of payments from EEA and Norway Grants to Hungary, thereby resuming the three countries’ support of the economic and social cohesion in Hungary.

Hungarian authorities and donors came to an agreement regarding the control and implementation of the funds in Hungary, the embassy said, adding that the parties had agreed to respect the legal framework for the implementation of the civil society programme in Hungary.

The donors are in dialogue with the Hungarian authorities regarding what can be implemented before the deadlines, the embassy said, adding that limited time available to implement the programmes and projects.

The embassy noted that the majority of the programmes have had payments suspended since May 2014. The civil society programme has not been affected by the suspension.

Norway, and the other two donor states, Iceland and Lichtenstein, partnering in the EEA and Norway Financial Mechanisms supporting countries in the region, had suspended the disbursement of funds after the Hungarian government had moved the implementation and monitoring of the scheme out of the central government administration.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters