The minister highlighted that despite ongoing suspensions, Hungary has received 1,321 billion forints so far from the current EU budget cycle, placing the country in the middle range among EU member states.
Minister Navracsics recalled that his ministry has been operating in its current structure since January 2024, which, he said, “has brought significant benefits to regional development.” He stressed that EU funds are “indispensable” to Hungarian development policy, noting that thousands of beneficiaries have been able to implement projects thanks to these resources.
He emphasized that development policy is based on cooperation rather than hierarchy, citing the Competitive Districts Programme as a successful example. While Budapest has continued to pull ahead of both the EU and national averages in terms of development, Minister Navracsics noted that some regions are once again showing signs of convergence after a pandemic-related slowdown.
According to the minister, under Hungary’s agreement with the European Commission, two-thirds of EU development funds are directed toward less developed regions. Therefore, suspending regional development funds “does not help cohesion but weakens the EU’s competitiveness,” he warned.
Navracsics pointed out that between 2014 and 2020, 52,000 Hungarian projects were successfully completed, while the 2021–2027 cycle is taking place in a “more politically complex environment.”
He recalled that when the current government took office, no agreement had yet been reached with the European Commission regarding cohesion or recovery funds, so preventing fund losses was a top priority.
He called it a major success that in December 2022, Hungary signed the Partnership Agreement with the European Commission, unlocking the operational programmes’ funds, and that the EU Council approved Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Summarizing, Minister Navracsics said that this year alone, 439 billion forints in EU funds had been received, adding that Hungary’s rate of utilization is ahead of schedule compared to the previous budget cycle.
Regarding the Recovery and Resilience Facility, he said that projects financed under the scheme must be operational by summer 2026, and that nearly all member states are currently revising their national plans. “We are confident we can achieve further concessions before the elections,” he added, citing the teachers’ wage increase programme as an example.