Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in parliament on Monday that a historic result had been achieved in Brussels last week: a political agreement had been reached to bring home EU funds owed to Hungary, one that benefits both the country and Hungarian people in every respect.
In his speech before the agenda, the prime minister highlighted that “in just a few weeks, we completed the work our predecessors could not — and probably did not want to — carry out over years.” Under the political agreement, a total of €16.4 billion in EU development funding, equivalent to around HUF 6,000 billion, will become available to Hungary from autumn onward, he said.
He noted that this amount corresponds to more than 10% of Hungary’s state budget.
He explained that €2.2 billion in university and innovation funding would become accessible, allowing Hungary to restore the international ties of higher education, relaunch research and development programmes, and ensure the full participation of Hungarian students in Erasmus programmes.
The previously frozen €4.2 billion in cohesion funding will also become available and will be used to modernise transport infrastructure — including the railway system — water management and environmental development, he said.
He added that Hungary would gain access to €10 billion, nearly HUF 4,000 billion, from the Recovery Fund, resources that “many believed had already been lost due to extremely tight deadlines.”
Péter Magyar declared: “We brought home the Hungarian people’s money.”
He noted that negotiations had been extremely difficult, and that on the night before the agreement was finalised they had still managed to increase the amount of unlocked EU funds by nearly HUF 1,000 billion.
According to the prime minister, Viktor Orbán had spent years “lying to Hungarian people by claiming the European Union was Hungary’s enemy, and that the role of Hungarian politics and Hungarian people was to stop Brussels.”
Magyar stressed that “the former prime minister, who is now cowardly hiding and sending messages through Facebook,” had equated Brussels with war and illegal migration and “lied by claiming the EU froze funding for ideological reasons.” In reality, Orbán Viktor had not stopped Brussels, but Hungary’s development for many years, he argued.
He described stopping “Orbán-style industrial-scale corruption,” fighting corruption and ensuring the transparent use of public money as the central issues of last week’s Brussels negotiations.
The prime minister stressed that negotiations had been tough, but accepting these commitments had posed no difficulty, as they were essentially the same expectations Hungarian people had expressed toward the Tisza Party.
The Tisza government made no commitments concerning illegal migration, the migration pact, Ukraine or ideological issues in exchange for bringing home HUF 6,000 billion in EU funding, the prime minister said, adding that a government should be judged by whether “it makes the country a better place for Hungarian people.”
Péter Magyar stressed that the asset declaration system would be significantly tightened, new investigative powers introduced to uncover undeclared assets by politicians, and the powers of the Integrity Authority expanded, creating stronger accountability for politicians and public officials.
The prime minister also announced that Hungary had officially submitted its application to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, which would be able to investigate cases retrospectively to 2021. Hungarian people have the right to know how their tax money was wasted or stolen, he said, adding that Hungary would thereby gain access to funding long available to other member states.
He noted that the government had committed to reviewing and reforming the system of public-interest asset management foundations to ensure universities serve the public interest rather than enabling the transfer of public assets.
He stressed that the significance of the agreement lies not only in the amount of funding secured, but also in finally being able to begin rebuilding the country together with citizens and laying the foundations for a humane and functioning Hungary.
He added that €4.4 billion could be spent on cohesion purposes and €2.2 billion on higher education and research and development, while several billion euros in already completed or ongoing investments could be reimbursed through EU funding, creating “several thousand billion forints of room for manoeuvre in what is expected to be a very poor state budget.”
He also said the government had reached an agreement with the European Commission on digital development programmes and several billion euros’ worth of support schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises, including grants, preferential financing and lending elements.
While other countries built new railway networks, modernised energy systems, launched research programmes, integrated universities into international cooperation and developed businesses, the Orbán government fought imagined wars against imagined enemies, ultimately leading to Hungary’s impoverishment and decline, Magyar said.
He added that HUF 120 billion in public funds had been “burned” on national consultations over the past decade and a half, HUF 300 billion spent on hate-inciting billboard campaigns between 2015 and 2025, and HUF 1,360 billion on “Rogán-style hate propaganda.”
These funds are now missing from healthcare, transport, research, education and housing programmes, he argued. The task of the coming months and years is to rebuild the country, make up for lost opportunities and prove that Hungary is capable of achieving more than what had been allowed over the past one-and-a-half to two decades.
Péter Magyar said Hungarian people decided in April to close an era in which a single political force gradually subordinated the state’s key institutions and filled positions meant to guarantee independence from party politics and serve as checks and balances with loyal figures.
According to him, these people had been tasked by the Orbán government with failing to act as counterweights to executive power.
Speaking about President Tamás Sulyok and quoting the Fundamental Law, Magyar repeated his earlier claim that the president must express the unity of the nation and safeguard the functioning of the democratic order. However, he argued that the president had remained silent when national unity was harmed, trust in democratic institutions weakened, and the dignity of Hungarian people came under mass attack.
He stressed that the authority of the presidential institution is more important and stronger than any individual president, and that Hungary’s interest lies in restoring the institution’s credibility, which had been severely damaged in recent years.
He pointed out that every institution ultimately derives its strength from public trust, which stems from citizens believing that institutions serve the law, the public and the nation as a whole — not the survival of a political system.
“In the near future, we will therefore submit regulatory and constitutional solutions to parliament that restore trust in the independence of state institutions and the rule of law, and ensure that no major constitutional office of the Republic of Hungary can become the extended shadow of a failed regime or a failed leader,” he said.
The change of system will only be complete when state institutions return to the roles assigned to them by constitutional democracy: overseeing the government of the day, enforcing laws and serving the Hungarian nation, the prime minister declared.
Péter Magyar stressed that the agreement on EU funding is of historic significance, but that the bulk of the work begins now. Complex and lengthy legislative work lies ahead, he said, calling for the cooperation of all members of parliament.
He also reported that he had met Mihály Varga, governor of the Hungarian National Bank, on Monday and promised a responsible economic and fiscal policy that strengthens the confidence of families, businesses and investors. The government views the central bank as a strategic partner and respects its independence, he stressed.
He added that the government continues to work on strengthening Hungary’s position in Europe and within the Western alliance system. He said he would meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Tuesday and President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday.
“There will be a great deal of work involved in making Hungary a strong ally in Europe again. Hungary’s international standing has been pushed very low in recent years, but through hard work and negotiations we can — and will — rebuild trust as a strong, sovereign and reliable partner,” he said.
In conclusion, Péter Magyar said Hungary’s interest is clear: building a fairly functioning state, a stronger economy and a more just and humane Hungary.
He welcomed the fact that, with opposition support, parliament could reduce not only MPs’ salaries but also parliamentary allowances, which had previously cost Hungarian people “astonishing amounts of money.”
“I believe better years lie ahead for Hungary, and I ask that we work together responsibly and with the intention of serving the nation,” the prime minister concluded.
Artificial intelligence was used for the translation of parts of the original Hungarian text.
