Magyar meets EU leaders to unlock frozen funds for Hungary
Magyar met Ursula von der Leyen as Hungary tried to unlock nearly €10 billion before an August deadline, testing whether Brussels wants reforms or just a new face.
Péter Magyar used his first Brussels meeting since Tisza’s landslide victory to press a simple but high-stakes case: Hungary needs its frozen EU money released, and the next government says it is ready to pay the political price. The talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen came as about €10 billion in post-pandemic recovery funds faced permanent loss if Hungary missed the end-of-August 2026 deadline for the required milestones.
The immediate prize is only part of the picture. Around €17 billion in total EU funding for Hungary remains frozen over rule-of-law, corruption, judicial-independence and democratic standards concerns that built up under Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule. Brussels has made clear that the money will not move until the conditions attached to the 15 December 2022 Council decision are met, making Magyar’s outreach less a victory lap than a stress test of whether a change in government can produce a change in behavior.
Magyar’s team had already spent days laying groundwork. European Commission officials met Tisza representatives in Budapest on April 18 and 19, then again in Brussels on April 26, mapping out a path toward a new national recovery plan. Tisza now plans to submit that plan by the end of May, replacing the Orbán-era proposal from 2021 that failed to secure the funds. The recovery money is especially urgent because the deadline is fixed: if the milestones are not completed by the end of August 2026, the funds are gone for good.
Magyar has tied the broader reset to concrete reforms. His priorities include anti-corruption measures, restoring judicial independence, protecting media and academic freedoms, and possibly joining the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. That list is the test Brussels will apply, not the warmer tone that has accompanied the change in Budapest. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described the moment as a chance to restore and reform, while European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber said Europe should give Hungary’s new government a “credit of trust.”
The political atmosphere has already improved on one front. Budapest dropped objections to the EU’s €90 billion Ukraine loan package, clearing a major source of tension and easing Magyar’s path as he seeks to rebuild ties with the bloc. After the meeting, Magyar said the talks were “extremely constructive and successful,” and said the funds would soon arrive in Hungary. Whether Brussels agrees will depend on substance, not symbolism.
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