Hungary said it was prepared to meet European Union demands that it take action to curb fraud and corruption after the bloc threatened to freeze 7.5 billion euros of funds that have been earmarked for the country, according to Bloomberg.
Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a Facebook post late Monday that her government would strike a deal with the EU by the end of the year.
She pledged that the cabinet would focus on implementing and enforcing its commitments, and said she has “submitted to Parliament a law package amending the legislation on cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office and on public interest trusts performing public tasks.”
The Hungarian forint jumped 1.5% against the euro on Monday, bolstered by the prospect that Brussels and Budapest could eventually reach an accord on disbursing the money. That pared the currency’s year-to-date decline to 7.6% against the European common currency.
For more than a decade, the EU has unsuccessfully tried to keep Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the fold while largely looking past his antagonistic approach to the bloc and attacks on the rule of law.
On Sunday, the EU changed tack, with the European Commission recommended suspending the funding as part of its new power under its so-called conditionality mechanism.
Orban has a long history of pledging to fall into line with EU demands while rarely making any meaningful changes to the way he operates.
EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn told reporters in Brussels Sunday that Hungary had made “important and public commitments in the right direction,” and that the commission welcomed the constructive development.