On behalf of the Hungarian national group of the Patriots for Europe Group, Hungary’s Fidesz-KDNP representative in the European Parliament, MEP Tamás Deutsch, has submitted comprehensive amendments to the European Union’s 2025 budget. The proposals of Fidesz and KDNP aim to “replace the further expansion of power of Brussels bureaucracy with an EU budget that puts peace; the interests of European people, families and nations; and sovereignty first.”
The European Commission presented its 2025 EU budget proposal in June, as required by law. It includes €199.7 billion in commitments, €152.7 billion in payments and €71.8 billion in borrowing. According to Deutsch, radical changes are needed to the commission’s “flawed” draft budget.
The Patriots for Europe group believes that instead of a budget supporting illegal migration, there should be one that strengthens border protection and focuses on helping Europe and Europeans on the ground.
To this end, Fidesz and KDNP MEPs would increase the EU’s border protection spending by €2 billion and propose that part of this amount should cover Hungary’s current border protection costs. They also propose that the European Commission should deduct from this sum the €200 million fine imposed on Hungary by the European Court of Justice for stopping illegal migration.
Tamás Deutsch added: “We have proposed to radically cut the budget resources that allow ideological political blackmail of member states — by €170 million. Hungarian development, Erasmus, and research and development funds need to be protected and brought back home, rather than being cut further.”
The Patriots’ group proposed to increase cohesion funding by 10 percent, or €2.8 billion, in the EU budget. Within this, 5 percent of the budget, nearly €1.5 billion, should be blocked so that development funds rightfully due to Hungary but not yet paid out cannot be used for other purposes or in other countries.
Additional proposals seek to increase the resources of the Erasmus program by €23 million and those of research and development by €700 million, as well as hike funding for infrastructure investments to support the EU accession of Western Balkan countries and the agricultural budget for young farmers,
In addition, Fidesz and KDNP MEPs want €100 million frozen to ensure that the money Hungary is due cannot be used for other purposes.
