Hungary’s main opposition leader urged prime minister Viktor Orban to call early elections after the country forfeited more than €1 billion in European Union funds due to the nationalist government’s failure to tackle corruption and rule-of-law issues.
Hungary has struggled to rein in inflation and its budget deficit and has sought to strengthen economic ties with China, maintain links with Moscow and forge an alliance with incoming US president Donald Trump to offset worsening relations with the EU, which has denounced Mr Orban’s alleged erosion of democracy and the rule of law and his refusal to support a host of measures to help Ukraine survive Russia’s invasion.
The EU wrote off €1.04 billion in financing earmarked for Hungary on January 1st, when a deadline for disbursal of the money expired. The sum was part of about €20 billion in funds that Brussels has withheld from Budapest over a range of concerns, including attacks on democratic norms and mistreatment of asylum seekers.
“You have made Hungary the poorest, most corrupt nation in the European Union,” said opposition leader Peter Magyar, accusing Mr Orban of presiding over “destruction and bad governance on an unprecedented scale” during his 14-year rule.
New Orleans truck attack: Celebration followed by terror in the French Quarter
I asked Bitchy Bitchy how he felt about his nickname. He gave me a bitchy look...
Drugs, scams and sin: Myanmar’s war has made it the global crime capital
‘It doesn’t seem real’: Residents of Jimmy Carter’s hometown celebrate a life well lived
“But now that is over. The nation says ‘enough’. We have no more time and we won’t give you another chance,” Mr Magyar added in a new year’s speech posted online.
“Bring forward election day to the earliest possible date ... because we don’t have any more time. We do not even have another year.”
Government officials said there were no plans to reschedule parliamentary elections that are due in 2026, and condemned the EU for withholding funds.
“The Hungarian government has met all conditions required to access all EU funds. Brussels wants to take away the funds that Hungary and the Hungarian people are entitled to because of its political agenda,” said EU affairs minister Janos Boka.
“But Hungary will not lose a single euro cent as long as it has a patriotic and sovereign government ... Hungary will use all legal and political tools at its disposal to gain access to the remainder of its EU funds.”
Mr Orban’s Fidesz party has long dominated the country’s politics with nationalist and populist messages attacking the EU, migrants and prominent liberal figures such as Hungarian-born financier George Soros, as it has sought to implement what it calls “illiberal democracy” in the nation of 10 million.
Fidesz has been shaken by the rise of Mr Magyar – a former Fidesz member – and his centre-right Tisza party, which was relaunched only last April but overtook the ruling party in several opinion polls in the second half of 2024 on promises to stabilise the economy, end corruption and rebuild relations with the EU.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
