At the start of the year, the European Commission canceled European aid planned for Hungary due to violations of the rule of law. Switzerland shares the EU’s doubts, but continues to pay its cohesion contribution to Hungary.
The funds intended for Hungary have not been frozen by Switzerland, Michael Steiner, spokesperson for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), told the Keystone-ATS agency. He confirmed the statements of the FDFA to the NZZ am Sonntag, explaining Switzerland’s approach.
Switzerland shares in principle the EU’s concerns. This is why it agreed on principles of collaboration with partner countries for the second contribution, added the spokesperson. This concerns, for example, respect for fundamental rights within the framework of cooperation.
In the event of non-compliance with the principles in programs and projects financed by Switzerland, the latter may take measures. This can mean the suspension of a project, or even, in the worst case, the withdrawal of the funds concerned.
The FDFA noted, however, that Switzerland’s quality requirements have been met so far in the implementation.
Hungary: 87.6 million francs
As part of the second Swiss contribution, the Confederation supports certain EU states in the areas of cohesion and migration with a total of 1.3 billion francs. Of this sum, 87.6 million francs are planned for Hungary until the end of 2029.
At the end of the year, Hungary lost its right to EU aid of around one billion euros. To release this money, the country would have had to implement reform conditions until the end of 2024.
The funds were frozen at the end of 2022, because the European Commission came to the conclusion, after analysis, that Hungary did not respect various EU standards and fundamental values. According to previous data from the European Commission, almost 19 billion euros (17.8 billion francs) of European funds were still blocked for Hungary.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
