Norway has reached an agreement with Hungary that allows a grants scheme halted for a decade to restart, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters on Friday. Eide, together with his counterparts from Iceland and Liechtenstein, will meet Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban in Budapest on Monday to sign the €254.1-million ($285-million) agreement under the European Economic Area and Norway Grants scheme.

Source: Reuters via KRRO

Yaani — €254.1 million means 25.41 crore euros, about 28.5 crore US dollars. The wider scheme is far larger: for 2021–2028, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are providing €3.268 billion in total — yaani 326.8 crore euros — to the EU's 15 least prosperous states, with Norway providing roughly 97% of the funding, according to the Norwegian government.

Source: Norwegian Government — regjeringen.no, EEA and Norway Grants facts

The deal covers the 2021–2028 funding period, although payments are possible until April 2031, and it makes Hungary the fourth-largest of the 15 recipients, after Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, Reuters reported. The Norwegian government's published allocations list confirms Hungary's figure at €254.1 million, behind Poland (€924.9 million), Romania (€596.3 million) and Bulgaria (€260 million).

Source: Reuters via KRRO; Norwegian Government allocations list

There were no payments in the 2014–2021 funding period because Norway and its partners could not agree on an independent fund operator with the previous Hungarian government led by Viktor Orban, Eide said. "So there has been no transfer from Norway to Hungary in the Norway and EEA grants for 10 years," he said, adding that the change of government in Hungary, now led by Peter Magyar, has made a restart possible.

Source: Reuters via KRRO

The grants support cooperation between Norwegian and Hungarian organisations in areas including democracy, rule of law, press freedom, combatting corruption and the green transition, and there is now agreement on control mechanisms to ensure the proper use of funds, Eide said. The Norwegian government lists the scheme's priority areas as the green transition; democracy, rule of law and human rights; and social inclusion and resilience.

Source: Reuters via KRRO; Norwegian Government

"We are very much welcoming the direction of travel of the Magyar government because it is important in my view for the Hungarians, but also for Europe, that the Hungarians are coming back to sort of key European values and principles," Eide said. Reuters reported that the move follows a decision by the European Commission to unlock €16.4 billion of previously frozen EU recovery and cohesion funds — yaani 1,640 crore euros — thanks to reforms making progress under the new government in Budapest.

Source: Reuters via KRRO