Regional Development Minister Tibor Navracsics said on Thursday that Hungary has submitted an application to the European Commission for credit of 3.9 billion euros from the community’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
Minister Navracsics said Hungary plans to use the financing for energy infrastructure development as well as projects to boost energy efficiency and the green transition. The minister declined to answer a question on when the funds would be available, adding that the loan request would be filed later on Thursday. He added, however, that projects financed from the RRF must be completed before the autumn of 2026. Meanwhile, the minister said the European Commission had not yet prepared its assessment of the Hungarian government’s responses to the EU’s concerns about the rule of law in Hungary. He added that as soon as the EU provided its feedback, the EU’s cohesion funds to Hungary may be released. Concerning the Erasmus higher education program, Navracsics said financing for the program was in place until the first half of 2024, adding that talks with Brussels were underway, and if negotiations were concluded before the end of November, financing for the second half of next year would also be ensured. He said he trusted that disputed issues around the contested program would be resolved. “Current talks constitute the final stage of a series,” he added. Navracsics said Erasmus was “the most effective advertisement for European integration”, adding that it was “incomprehensible” that the European Commission “is seeking to deprive students of that experience”. Banning Hungarian universities from the program was, he said, “ideological discrimination” and “political blundering”.