Budapest Mayor Holds Talks on EU Funding in Brussels
- 17 Jun 2022 9:11 AM
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony recently travelled to Brussels for talks with European Commission representatives on European Union funding available to the Hungarian capital.
Karácsony said on Facebook that he had met European Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn and European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
The talks covered Budapest’s plans for energy independence and green investments aimed at reducing utility costs, Karácsony said.
The war in Ukraine and the Hungarian government’s “insane spending spree” leading up to the April general election had left Hungary in a “severe economic situation”, he said, adding that this was why Hungary needed the billions of euros in funding it was entitled to from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund.
The Orbán government, however, “cannot access these funds because it refuses to meet the EU’s anti-corruption criteria”, he said.
Budapest has drafted its plans, and the EU funding needed to carry them out is available, Karácsony said.
“Now all that is needed is for the Orbán government to govern according to the rule of law,” he added.
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