This includes issues in the awarding of public contracts, restrictions on academic freedoms, a “child protection law” widely viewed as homophobic and the treatment of asylum seekers.
The row over the so-called child protection law has turned into legal action, as 15 member countries and the European Parliament have joined a lawsuit brought by the Commission against Hungary in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union, on the grounds that the regulation is in breach of EU values.
On top of that, Hungary is waiting to access €10.4 billion in grants and cheap loans from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund, for which it will have to implement a series of anti-corruption measures.
Grain row
Together with Poland and Slovakia, Hungary last September rebelled against a decision from the Commission to remove restrictions on grain imports from war-ravaged Ukraine.
The three countries, which all border Ukraine, then claimed the EU’s decision threatened the livelihood of their farmers, who were faced with a sudden influx of cheaper Ukrainian products.
“Ukrainian agricultural products destined for #Africa are flooding Central European markets,” Orbán wrote at the time on X, formerly Twitter.
