Members of the European Parliament are seeking to prevent Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from regaining access to portions of EU cohesion funds that were previously frozen over rule-of-law concerns and non-compliance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Lawmakers fear that a midterm review of cohesion policy—meant to redirect unused money toward defense and dual-use production and to speed up spending in the second half of the EU’s seven-year budget—could allow Budapest to “thaw” some of the blocked financing without meeting the EU’s conditions on academic freedom and LGBT rights.
German Green MEP Daniel Freund told Euronews that the Hungarian government has already received €160 million from previously frozen envelopes and is seeking to withdraw a further €600 million. Euronews said it could not verify the €160 million claim, and the European Commission declined to comment on the additional €600 million request. The Hungarian government also declined to comment, citing ongoing talks on cohesion funds.
The Commission has tried to reassure MEPs that rule-of-law safeguards will continue to apply in the cohesion review. Commission spokesperson Balázs Ujvári said funds frozen under rule-of-law instruments will remain untouched and not eligible for cohesion-policy flexibilities. Cohesion policy chief Raffaele Fitto reinforced that message in a letter to the chair of Parliament’s Regional Development Committee (REGI), stating that Brussels will not approve any requests to disburse previously frozen money and will assess program changes against the Common Provisions Regulation, the rule-of-law conditionality regime, and the midterm review rules.
Skeptics in Parliament remain unconvinced. Dutch MEP Tinneke Strik, Parliament’s rapporteur on Hungary, argued that the Commission’s assurances are not legally binding and that Hungary could exploit gaps in the framework to access funds. Freund pointed to another potential loophole, saying reallocations of up to 8 percent may not require direct Commission intervention. In June, the REGI committee explored amending the CPR to add stronger guardrails, but was unable to proceed for legal reasons.
Hungarian S&D MEP Klára Dobrev warned that the midterm mechanism does not sufficiently protect against back-door disbursements. Citing what she called past “electoral gifts” to Orbán in 2022 and 2024, she said Parliament should not rely on non-binding pledges. Dobrev was one of eight MEPs who voted against the review proposal in REGI on Wednesday; twenty-seven backed it and five abstained. With the committee’s approval, the text moves to a plenary vote next week, where it is expected to pass.
Most EU funding for Hungary remains frozen due to concerns over corruption, academic freedom, LGBT rights, and asylum protections. In total, €18 billion of €28 billion in allocations is blocked under the rule-of-law mechanism and the Charter of Fundamental Rights conditions attached to cohesion funds. Unlocking even part of these resources would represent a significant political victory for Orbán. In late 2023, the Commission released €10.2 billion in previously frozen cohesion funds to Hungary shortly before a key EU summit at which Orbán dropped a threat to veto a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine—a sequence that drew accusations from some MEPs of a secret deal and threats of legal action. Critics now warn that, without robust, legally binding guarantees, the midterm review could open the door to similar arrangements in the future.
