The Prime Minister’s Office said that talks between the EC and Hungary on the country’s recovery plan, in which 7.2 billion euros have been requested in funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) designed to offset the fallout of the coronavirus epidemic, had been under way and close to completion when the commission “came up with impossible demands” after the child protection law was passed.
The recovery plan, which was “shaped in consultation with experts, is being hobbled by ideologically and politically motivated attacks,” the PM’s office said in a statement. Hopefully, the plan will be assessed on professional grounds, independently from “Brussels’s insistence on letting LMBTQ activists into Hungarian kindergartens and schools,” the statement said.
“There is no reason for EU bodies to reject the Hungarian plan. We have responded to demands which were sprung on us unexpectedly, and fulfilled all requirements in line with RRF regulations,” the statement said. “Talks are ongoing between Hungary and the European Commission on the Hungarian recovery plan, and we await the Commission’s decision,” it said. The statement slammed the Hungarian opposition for “lobbying for the Hungarian plan and talks to be frozen”.
According to MTI, Hungary submitted its plan on the use of RRF funds in May, with the lion’s share — 34.1 percent of the funds — allocated to the development of the healthcare system. The development of environmentally friendly transport and the education system would receive 25 percent and 20.4 percent of the resources, respectively. Additional development plans include promoting the switchover to the circular economy, closing the gap between underdeveloped and better developed regions, as well as environmental protection.