EU negotiating with Hungary to unblock additional funding for Ukraine- Reuters
By end-November, the European Union and Hungary expect to reach a deal to unlock billions of euros worth of funding suspended due to concerns over democratic standards as the bloc seeks Budapest’s approval for Ukraine's accession to the EU and financial assistance to Kyiv, Reuters reports.
Tibor Navracsics, Hungary’s top negotiator with the EU, said the country’s goal "is to hopefully wrap up the negotiations on the conditionality procedure shortly.
"I trust that we can finalise by the end of November," Mr Navracsics told a Budapest business forum on Tuesday, adding that Hungary could then launch EU-backed projects swiftly, financed from the 2021-2027 EU financing framework.
EU officials told Reuters that laws passed by Hungary this summer to increase judicial independence had brought closer a deal on unfreezing part of around EUR 22 billion in economic development aid.
The funds would give a much-needed boost to Hungary's economy, which is struggling to recover from its longest recession since modern records started, stifled by the EU's highest inflation and a steep fall in consumption.
