Hungary passes anti-graft law to avoid loss of EU funds

Hungary’s parliament passed the first of a series of anti-corruption bills on October 3 as Budapest seeks to avoid a loss of European Union funds at a time when its economy is headed into recession and the forint has plunged to record lows, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party passed an amendment to the criminal code to set up a procedure concerning criminal offences related to the management of public property, allowing a judicial review in case an investigation is closed without indictment or a crime report is dismissed.

Parliament passed the bill with 136 members voting yes, while seven voted against it and 14 abstained.

The legislation is one of 17 commitments Orban’s government made to the European Commission to stave off a suspension of billions of euros of EU money over breaches of democratic checks and balances including weak anti-corruption safeguards.

Facing surging energy costs and inflation, a record weak forint and a slowing economy, Orban, long at odds with the EU, now looks willing to fulfil demands to create institutions that would cut corruption risks.

The EU will have until November 19 to assess Hungary’s actions and whether they curb the risk of misspending EU money. Otherwise, the bloc would be expected to approve cutting 7.5 billion euros ($7.36 billion) earmarked for Hungary, some 5% of its 2022 GDP estimate.