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Hungary’s prime minister-elect Péter Magyar is set to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday as he seeks to unlock billions of euros in suspended EU funding quickly.
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Magyar will hold what sources describe as “informal talks” with the Commission chief and is not expected to speak to the media in Brussels. People familiar with his thinking say he is keen to move quickly on files linked to the EU’s frozen payments for Hungary.
Magyar will also meet EU Council President António Costa after a tumultuous veto policy pushed by Viktor Orbán took bilateral relations between Budapest and the rest of EU leaders to near breaking point.
The trip opens a direct point of contact with Brussels, as he awaits his swearing-in ceremony in Budapest on 9 May, a symbolic date that also marks Europe Day.
After winning a landslide earlier this month, Magyar had indicated he would only visit mid-May after completing a European tour, with stops in Vienna and Warsaw first.
The meeting on Wednesday responds to “exceptional circumstances that necessitate speed,” according to an official from Magyar’s Tisza Party. The incoming prime minister is looking to salvage about €10 billion in EU funding currently blocked over concerns about the rule of law before an August deadline, or risk losing the cash.
Talks at a technical level have already taken place between Commission and Tisza officials. Ursula von der Leyen’s powerful chief of staff, Björn Seibert, held talks earlier this month, where the two sides agreed to work together at speed.
Magyar’s incoming foreign minister, Anita Orbán, was in Brussels last weekend. Hosting talks with a government yet to take office highlights both the urgency of the situation and a renewed political willingness on both sides.
Magyar’s approach to negotiations also contrasts with the permanent confrontation under outgoing Prime Minister Orbán, who repeatedly clashed with EU institutions.
Magyar made resetting relations with European partners, as well as securing access to funds that he says “belong to Hungarians”, a central theme of his campaign, helping him win a supermajority that should allow him to fast-track reforms.
To that extent, the incoming prime minister has little choice if he wants to turn around the Hungarian economy. But he will need to strike a delicate balance between overtures to Brussels and maintaining the image of a politician who is not simply taking orders.
Unlike Orbán, he is likely to find fresh momentum in Brussels.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Manfred Weber, the German head of the European People’s Party, which also counts Magyar’s Tisza among its members, said a new chapter in relations is warranted.
“Europe must now be the friend on the side of Hungary, of this new government, delivering on the expectations of citizens,” he told reporters in Strasbourg, where the European Parliament is holding a plenary session.
“The main message is to help them. This is what we have to do. Not to criticise, or make detailed discussions, but help them and be supportive,” he added.
Weber also suggested Article 7 proceedings should be suspended with Magyar in office.
