Hungary threatens EU budget block unless frozen funds are released

BRUSSELS

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday that Hungary will block the European Union’s next multiannual budget unless Brussels releases the remaining portion of EU funds frozen over rule-of-law concerns.

Speaking at the 34th Balvanyos Summer Free University and Student Camp in Romania, Orban said Hungary has only received half of the EU funds it is owed and will not agree to a new budget until the rest is paid, Hungarian outlet Index reported.

"We have already brought half of the money home, it is in our account, but the other half must be brought home. That too will happen. The adoption of the new seven-year budget requires unanimity. Until we receive the money we have missed, there will be no new European budget," he said.

Hungary and the European Commission have long been at odds over concerns related to democratic backsliding, resulting in a partial freeze of cohesion and recovery funds to Budapest.

Calls for leadership change in EU

The Hungarian premier accused the EU's current leadership of failing the continent, calling for a change at the helm of the bloc.

"The current leadership of the European Union is always the last to make the worst deals. They have put the Union on a forced path, and this is leading to a trade war that we cannot win. A change of leadership is needed in the Union," he said.

He claimed the European Commission had abandoned its founding mission as a peace project and is now pursuing what he termed a “war agenda,” particularly in relation to Ukraine.

Orban rejected the Commission’s proposed budget, saying it allocates nearly 20% of resources to Ukraine and military spending. “Hungary is not interested in a war budget, we need a budget that serves peace and development, so the proposal is not even considered a basis for negotiations,” he said.

'Growing risk of world war'

Orban also expressed concern about what he described as rising risks of a potential world war, citing intensifying great power competition, military buildups, and mass migration.

He argued that "Ukraine's attraction to the West was presented at the wrong time and in the wrong way, which ended in war."

Calling the global geopolitical environment “ominous,” Orban said Hungary must remain calm and strategic. “We cannot be locked into any bloc. We must strive for balance with the East and the West,” he added.