The EU is withholding aid to press Hungary to reform
Viktor Orban is using every trick he has to get the funds anyway
THE European Union has struggled for years to cope with corruption in Hungary, where the ruling party has packed the courts, and state contracts tend to go to friends of Viktor Orban, the prime minister. It now looks to be getting serious. Since last year the bloc has two powerful new tools. The first is its €750bn ($750bn) covid-recovery fund, which requires each country’s spending plan to be certified by the European Commission. The second is a “conditionality mechanism” which lets it block EU aid and demand reforms.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “First reforms, then cash”
Europe November 26th 2022
- How “offshore journalists” challenge Vladimir Putin’s empire of lies
- In Ukraine, living as normal is an act of defiance
- Reformist German Catholic bishops get a dusty response from the Vatican
- The EU is withholding aid to press Hungary to reform
- On a visit to America, France’s president will confront new problems
- European politicians should steal more of their neighbours’ best ideas
From the November 26th 2022 edition
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