Brussels, 13/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 13 April, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban described as “blackmail” the fact that the loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would only be granted subject to political changes being made in Hungary. Speaking on the public radio channel, MR1, as reported by AFP, Orban said: “Setting political conditions - regarding the legal system, for example - is tantamount to blackmail, which is unacceptable within the European Union.” Orban went on to add that, although the IMF is “imposing only financial conditions”, the EU is “toying with the idea of imposing political conditions”.
At the end of November 2011, Hungary had called for a loan of around €10-15 billion from the IMF and the EU, but the European Commission had made the holding of talks subject to changes being brought about in the new Hungarian laws on the national central bank which, the Commission said, are detrimental to the institution's independence. Budapest is also the subject of infringement proceedings with regard to its judiciary reform and concerning the data protection authority. The college of commissioners is to state its position as to the approach to be adopted by May, a Commission spokesman said on 12 April. Orban will be in Brussels on 23 April. (SP/transl.jl)