The Hungarian government has sent its reply to the European Commission (EC) in the so-called Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism, Minister of Justice Judit Varga announced on her Facebook page early Tuesday morning.
#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #Hungary #Orban #Orbán #EUfunds #RuleofLaw #ViktorOrban #Fidesz
The deadline for the Hungarian government to reply to Brussels for the second time to the problems expired at Monday midnight.
"The Hungarian Government remains open to a constructive dialogue with the Commission," Varga said, not disclosing the content of the reply.
In April, the EC formally notified Hungary about activating the mechanism in the European Union (EU) budget, which links EU funding to the rule of law.
The EC raised questions and objections primarily about public procurement (or corruption cases involving EU funds), and the independent functioning of judicial authorities such as the prosecutor's office.
Besides the fate of EU funds in jeopardy, the EC has also refused to approve post-COVID recovery funds for Budapest, the so-called RRF (the Recovery and Resilience Facility) funds, citing concerns over the rule of law. Hungary is the only EU member which hasn't gotten the green light for RRF.
The amount frozen in the frame of the RRF is close to 5.8 billion euros (5.8 billion U.S. dollars).
Local press and opposition politicians have asked the government to disclose the full content of the reply sent to the EC.
