Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Friday in an effort to secure a largely symbolic deal aimed at resetting Hungary’s relationship with the EU.
Magyar is also scheduled to meet Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday. The Hungarian Prime Minister announced the trip on social media.
"Tomorrow I will be meeting with the NATO Secretary General and the Belgian Prime Minister, and on Friday with the President of the Commission in Brussels. Everyone is working on bringing back the EU's billions," Magyar said on his Facebook.
Magyar’s Tisza Party won a sweeping victory in April’s parliamentary elections, ousting Viktor Orbán’s nationalist, Eurosceptic government. He has pledged to normalise Hungary’s relations with the EU and unlock €17 billion in EU funds frozen over concerns about corruption and rule-of-law deficiencies.
The meeting on Friday is intended to secure what Magyar described as a “political agreement” based primarily on commitments. Hungary must fulfil all remaining conditions by the end of August in order to access the funds, with the first payments potentially arriving before the end of the year.
