EU leaders are due in Budapest for Hungary’s Oct. 23 uprising anniversary, days after the bloc made €4.2 billion in cohesion funding available and cleared a path for student and research programs to resume.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to the Hungarian capital and deliver a speech during the anniversary events, the Commission said. European Council President António Costa’s published schedule separately lists a Budapest commemoration.
France’s embassy in Budapest told Telex that French President Emmanuel Macron would not attend, the outlet reported Oct. 19. It also told Telex that French officials had not confirmed a visit. That account conflicts with Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s earlier statement: Telex reported that he said in an Oct. 13 interview with Partizán that Macron would come. Magyar became prime minister in May after his Tisza Party won a two-thirds majority in April’s election.
The Hungarian government said the Council of the European Union lifted the 2022 budget-protection measures on Oct. 13, making €4.2 billion in EU cohesion funding available to Hungary. The European Commission had proposed ending the measures after assessing changes to public procurement, anti-corruption safeguards, conflicts of interest and prosecution. The Commission identified Hungarian cohesion programs, students and researchers among the beneficiaries.
The government said the decision also removed restrictions affecting Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, with activity under the programs able to restart after the necessary agreements are signed. EU ministers on Oct. 13 also received updates from Hungary and the Commission on the country’s rule-of-law situation under the separate Article 7 procedure.
That day, the Council opened two further clusters in Ukraine’s EU accession talks: the internal market, and competitiveness and inclusive growth. They are the second and third of six clusters in the negotiations.
Hungary’s official memorial history dates the uprising’s start to Oct. 23, 1956, when protests challenged Communist rule and Soviet occupation. Soviet forces began their invasion on Nov. 4, and resistance continued for several days. Budapest’s anniversary commemoration is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23.
