It is a real charm offensive in which the Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga is engaged, who has started a tour of European capitals since the beginning of September. She started in Brussels, where she was received by no less than seven European commissioners, including Vera Jourova – responsible for the values of the European Union (EU and transparency – whose Viktor Orban had nevertheless asked for the head, in September 2020, after she called Hungary the “sick democracy”. She then went to Madrid, Lisbon, then Paris, and should soon be packing her bags in Berlin. “This is the first time that Viktor Orban’s Hungary has made such a diplomatic effort. It must be said that there is a lot of money at stake”comments a diplomat.
Hungary is indeed threatened to see itself deprived of several billion euros of Community financing, because of the concerns of Brussels on the corruption, the conflicts of interests or the conditions of public procurement in this country. And it has little time left to convince its European partners not to go to this extreme.
Protect the interests of taxpayers
On Sunday September 18, in its convoluted way, the Commission proposed to suspend 7.5 billion euros in payments to Budapest, while encouraging it to continue its efforts. The case deserves a little backtracking to be better understood. In April, just after the triumphant re-election of Viktor Orban, the Community executive activated an unprecedented mechanism against Budapest, the purpose of which is to protect the interests of European taxpayers by verifying that breaches of the rule of law do not penalize the community budget.
While Hungary has to deal with galloping inflation and a falling guilder, Budapest cannot do without European money. This summer, therefore, the government presented a series of 17-point reform proposals, including the establishment of a “independent authority” anti-corruption and an anti-corruption working group on which NGOs would sit. “When you listen to Judit Varga present these initiatives to you, you get the impression that Hungary is Europe’s beacon in the fight against corruption! We would give him the good Lord without confession”comments another diplomat.
Faced with the efforts of Viktor Orban, the Commission wanted to leave him an open door. At the same time, it has, of course, also proposed to the Member States to puncture up to 7.5 billion euros from the cohesion funds to which the country has access. That is nearly 20% of the aid that Hungary must receive from the European Union (EU) between 2021 and 2027. “As it stands, we cannot conclude that the EU budget is protected. The promises have yet to be fulfilled”emphasizes Johannes Hahn, the budget commissioner.
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