The Albany Gazette - Hungary's Magyar visits Brussels seeking to unblock EU billions

European Union leaders feted his election win this month that ended Kremlin-friendly Orban's 16 years in power, and before even taking office Magyar has sought to kickstart a new era of cooperation with Brussels that he hopes will unlock billions of euros for Budapest.

"A tremendous authorisation, a strong mandate, a great responsibility," Magyar posted online as he jetted off from Budapest.

"We know what we have to do: bring home the EU funds that Hungarians are entitled to."

The two sides have not hung around as they push to move beyond the Orban era's blockages and bickering that stalled key EU initiatives, most notably on supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's 2022 invasion.

Magyar is desperate to show his promise to reset ties can bring quick benefits, and wants to convince Brussels to release around 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in funding frozen over rule-of-law concerns under Orban.

While Magyar will only become prime minister next month, his team has already held two rounds of talks with high-ranking EU officials as they look to bring black sheep Budapest back into the fold.

The clock is indeed ticking: the incoming government has until the end of August to start pushing through reforms to try to secure 10 billion euros left over from Covid recovery funds, or lose them for good.

Wednesday's meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Antonio Costa will look to propel the work forward -- as Brussels lays out the changes it expects Magyar to make.

EU officials hope Magyar will be able to move fast after securing a super-majority in parliament that will make it easier to ram through laws.

"We've never seen such a level of commitment from a government that isn't even in office yet," EU lawmaker Daniel Freund, a fierce Orban critic, told AFP.

"It's practically as if Hungary is rejoining the European Union."

Officials say the quickest way for Brussels to give Magyar a win could be to wave through a separate 16 billion euros in preferential defence loans that were held up as the standoff with Orban worsened ahead of the Hungarian polls.

- 'Wait and see' -

While Brussels is setting out the nitty-gritty of the reforms it wants from Magyar, leaders will also be pushing for a new approach on Ukraine.

The incoming leader sounded a positive note Tuesday by saying he aimed to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in June to "open a new chapter".

Even before Magyar takes power, Orban's defeat has already helped unblock some of the major points of contention.

The 27-nation bloc last week approved a mammoth loan for Ukraine and a new package of sanctions on Russia that Hungary had been stalling for months.

Hungary's European counterparts now want to see Magyar free up EU funds used to arm Ukraine that have been stalled for years, and expect him to lift Orban's veto preventing Kyiv from moving to the next step in its bid to join the bloc.

Officials insist that Ukraine deserves to move ahead in the painstaking process, although there is little appetite among major EU powers to rush Kyiv towards full membership anytime soon.

Officials in Brussels are hopeful that Magyar -- who once served under Orban, before turning on his former boss -- will genuinely launch a new chapter in ties.

But wary of celebrating too soon, they insist they need to see concrete moves and not just warm words.

"So far, wait and see," one EU diplomat said, on condition of anonymity, summing up the attitude toward Magyar. "But that might change, considering all the good things he says and does."

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(R.White--TAG)