The European Parliament is set to hold a debate about the allocation of public defence funds to Hungary over fears that the money may be misused by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who faces a difficult election in April.
The money in question is part of the EU's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme, a €150 billion loan scheme that enables member states to finance the purchase of defence equipment.
This is a part of the plan to boost Europe's defences in the light of both Russian threats and the uncertainty of support from the United States.
Hungary has requested €17.4 billion in SAFE funds to boost its army. This would be the third biggest SAFE allocation among the member states, even though most of the EU's regular payments to Hungary are suspended because of rule of law deficiencies and corruption risks.
The Greens in the European Parliament initiated the debate, which has gained the support of mainstream political parties.
"I'm really frustrated that the European Commission chose Hungary as the third largest beneficiary of this whole SAFE programme, which means that Hungary will get €16 billion for its defence industry without any human rights rule of law conditionality," Greens-EFA MEP Tineke Strik told Euronews.
The debate will take place next Tuesday at the plenary session in Strasbourg, and will not be followed by a resolution.
Treading carefully
MEPs critical of Orbán argue that the EU should impose robust safeguards before transferring the SAFE funds to his government.
The EU has already suspended €17 billion out of €27 billion previously earmarked for Hungary, with payments made conditional on improvements in justice, rule of law and anti-corruption efforts.
EU budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin told the European Parliament last December that the same conditions might be applied to SAFE funds as well, but the 15% down payment could be allocated without conditions.
On Monday, Euronews reported that the European Commission has postponed most upcoming decisions related to Hungary in order to avoid any perception of interference in the current election campaign. But because boosting defence spending is a strategic goal of the von der Leyen Commission, SAFE is an exception.
If approved by the EU Council, the first of the defence payments could happen during the first quarter of this year, just before Hungary's crucial parliamentary election on April 12.
"This is a huge present to Orbán, because he will get a big part of it before the elections in Hungary," Strik said. "And because of the lack of conditions, he can use it for his own campaign and sell it as a sign of the legitimacy of his regime."
"This is really a toxic present for democracy in Hungary."
