Péter Magyar flew to Brussels on 28 May with a precise objective: sign enough of a deal with the European Commission to stop the clock on Hungary's largest-ever risk of losing EU money. He came close to achieving it.
After a meeting with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Magyar announced that Budapest and Brussels had reached a political accord — a framework agreement setting out what Hungary must do to access approximately €17 billion in frozen funds. The deal is not a disbursement. It is, as Magyar acknowledged, an "outline," with the "hard work" still to come before the end of August.
Hungary has two pools of blocked EU money. The larger is the €10.4 billion it is owed under the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility — €6.5 billion in non-repayable grants and €3.9 billion in loans — frozen since the Orbán government declined to meet conditions attached to the pandemic-era recovery instrument. Alongside that sits a further tranche of cohesion funds, blocked due to Brussels’ longstanding concerns about corruption, judicial independence and the rule of law. Unlocking the RRF money would, under the Commission’s current framework, automatically release most of the cohesion financing.
The timeline is unforgiving. Hungary has until 31 August to fulfil all outstanding conditions. If it misses the deadline, it risks losing the RRF entitlement entirely — a sum that dwarfs any political cost Magyar might face for implementing the reforms Brussels is demanding.
Those demands are substantial. They include anti-corruption measures, amendments to Hungary’s previous legislation on LGBTQ+ rights (passed under Orbán), and changes to asylum law. On top of that, Magyar committed to submitting Hungary’s formal application to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office — an independent EU body with powers to investigate and prosecute fraud against EU financial interests. Orbán refused to join throughout his tenure. Magyar’s move signals a fundamental reorientation of Hungary’s stance toward EU institutions.
The EU’s justice commissioner said on 28 May that Hungary is on "a very clear and steadfast path to restore the rule of law" — the strongest public endorsement Budapest has received from Brussels in years. The comment reflects a genuine shift in the tone of the relationship since Magyar took office, even as Commission officials are careful to make clear that words must be followed by legislation and verified implementation.
This is a reset, not a resolution. The political accord signed this week tells us that both sides want a deal and have agreed on the rough terms. Whether Hungary can translate that into concrete legal changes — through a parliament that Magyar does not fully control — by 31 August is a different question. The EU has seen Budapest sign commitments before and then walk them back. What is different now is that Magyar has staked his political credibility on EU integration, and losing €17 billion in the first year of his government would be a catastrophic failure. That incentive structure is, for Brussels, the most reassuring thing about this deal.
