Incoming Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for his first official visit, a high-stakes trip aimed at unlocking billions of euros in frozen EU funds and resetting relations between Budapest and the bloc. The visit comes after the decisive 12 April election that ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure, during which Hungary lost access to €17 billion in EU funds due to democratic backsliding.
Magyar is scheduled to hold closed-door talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, followed by a meeting with European Council President António Costa at 6pm. The urgency is driven by an end-of-August deadline: if no agreement is reached, Hungary stands to lose approximately €10 billion in post-COVID recovery funds. “We have no time to waste,” Magyar wrote on social media platform X. He is not expected to address the press.
A Four-Step Plan to Restore Trust
According to reports from Euronews’ Sandor Zsiros, Magyar has outlined a four-step plan to unblock the funds. It focuses on combatting corruption, restoring judicial independence, and safeguarding press and academic freedom. He also intends to revise the €16 billion SAFE defence plan submitted by the defeated Orbán government, citing corruption risks.
The latest European Commission report on rule of law in EU member states notes that Hungary has made no progress on seven out of eight priority reform areas, with a “deteriorating environment” persisting. However, European People’s Party President Manfred Weber told reporters in Strasbourg on Tuesday that the bloc must now support Budapest. “Trust is the main message,” Weber said. “Europe must be now the friend on the side of Hungary, of this new government, delivering now on the concrete expectations of the citizens.”
Magyar’s visit follows lower-level exchanges, including a recent meeting with Anita Orban, tapped to be Hungary’s incoming foreign affairs minister. A European Commission statement from that time indicated a clear will from both sides to “start work on various urgent topics.” The high-level engagement underscores a renewed political willingness on both sides, after months of tension under Orbán.
For more on this story, see our earlier coverage: Hungary's PM-Elect Magyar Meets von der Leyen to Unlock Frozen EU Funds.
EU Warns Israel Over Stolen Ukrainian Grain Shipment
In other news, the European Union has warned Israel that it is ready to impose sanctions on those involved in trading Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia. A vessel carrying over 6,200 tonnes of wheat and 19,000 tonnes of barley arrived in the port city of Haifa, though it has yet to unload. A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews’ Jorge Liboreiro that the EU condemns all actions that fund Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and circumvent EU sanctions. Brussels stands ready to target actions by “listing individuals and entities in third countries if necessary.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government would prepare “relevant sanctions” in coordination with Europeans against those “attempting to profit from this criminal scheme.” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the ship would be examined and authorities would “act in accordance with the law.”
European Parliament Calls for EU-Wide Definition of Rape
The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a resolution calling for an EU-wide definition of rape based on the absence of freely given and informed consent. The resolution, reported by Vincenzo Genovese from Strasbourg, aims to fill a key gap in EU legislation on violence against women. Currently, definitions vary across member states: in Latvia, rape refers to sexual violence under constraint, while Romanian law focuses on the victim’s inability to express consent. The European Commission must now propose legislation, which would require support from member states and the European Council.
For more on this, see our full story: EU Countries Push Back Against Brussels' Housing Deregulation Plans.
Other Developments
- Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut has been freed from a Belarusian jail, where he was serving eight years in a case condemned as politically motivated. Poczobut, a correspondent for Gazeta Wyborcza, was arrested in 2021.
- A Frenchman, Louis Arnaud, has been charged with attempted assassination of Donald Trump in a shooting at the White House correspondents' dinner. Arnaud spent two years in Tehran’s Evin prison after his arrest by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards in September 2022.
The European Parliament’s plenary session continues in Strasbourg, with debates on the EU’s response to the Middle East conflict, energy price shocks, and normalising relations with Russia through sport. European Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty Henna Virkkunen will also hold a press conference on the EU’s proposed age verification app.
