EU cuts aid to Hungary, Switzerland continues to pay

EU cuts aid to Hungary, Switzerland continues to pay Keystone-SDA

Earlier this year, the European Commission withdrew planned EU aid to Hungary because of violations of the rule of law. Switzerland shares the EU's doubts, but continues to pay its cohesion contribution to Hungary.

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Switzerland has not frozen the funds intended for Hungary, foreign ministry spokesman Michael Steiner told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS. He was confirming the foreign ministry’s statements to the NZZ am Sonntag, explaining Switzerland’s approach.

In principle, Switzerland shares the EU’s concerns. This is why it has agreed on principles of collaboration with partner countries for the second contribution, Steiner said. These include, for example, respect for fundamental rights in the context of cooperation.

In the event of non-compliance with these principles in Swiss-funded programmes and projects, Switzerland can take action. This can mean suspending a project or, in the worst case, withdrawing the funds concerned.

However, the foreign ministry has found that Switzerland’s quality requirements have been met to date.

+ Hungarians in Switzerland look at momentous past and Orbán’s present

Lost euros

As part of the second Swiss contribution, the government is supporting certain EU countries in the fields of cohesion and migration with a total of CHF1.3 billion ($1.42 billion). Of this sum, CHF87.6 million is earmarked for Hungary until the end of 2029.

At the end of the year, Hungary lost its entitlement to around €1 billion (CHF940 million) in EU aid. To receive the money, the country would have had to implement reform conditions by the end of 2024.

The funds were frozen at the end of 2022, as the European Commission had come to the conclusion, after analysis, that Hungary was not complying with various fundamental EU standards and values. According to previous data from the European Commission, almost €19 billion of EU funds were still blocked for Hungary.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts

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