The EU has withheld money to recover Hungary from Reuters by By-Reuters

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union executives lost their deadline to sign economic recovery aid to Hungary worth billions of euros, and delayed the decision in a bid to win state of law concessions from Budapest.

Hungary will receive 7.7 billion euros in EU promotion funds to boost economic growth caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Funding will begin to be created when the Brussels-based European Commission approves national plans on how to spend on digital and green transitions, including targets.

However, the Commission is using the money as a lever to push Hungary to respect the rule of law, an area in which the increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has clashed with the EU.

A spokesman for the commission said on Monday that it was examining the plan presented by Budapest and would propose a longer delay even if it takes “days rather than months” to decide.

While the spokesman declined to give details, Paolo Gentiloni, the bloc’s economic commissioner, said last week: “We are working on aspects related to respect for the rule of law.”

The Hungarian prime minister’s office said in a statement to the state news agency MTI that they are close to ending talks with the Commission but that the material seen was promoting homosexuality after Hungarian law was passed, the European Commission said of what it called “absurd requests”.

“Ideologically motivated political attacks obviously slow down the acceptance of the previously formulated plan in professional consultations,” the prime minister’s office said.

He added that talks are underway with the commission.

The Commission has long wanted Hungary to improve its public procurement process to deal with “systemic irregularities” – or fraud.

Orban has, in recent weeks, angered many of his EU members with new legislation banning school materials that promote homosexuality, the latest in a series of laws that discriminate against and restrict people’s rights.

Budapest has repeatedly clashed with the EU over Orban’s treatment of migrants and homosexuals, as well as tightening restrictions on media freedom, academics and judges.

Orban describes himself as a crusader by saying that they are traditional Catholic values ​​under pressure from the Liberal West.