Hungary submits bill for anti-corruption office and joins EU prosecutor's office, unlocking €10 billion in frozen funds

The Hungarian government moved on three parallel tracks Friday to overhaul its anti-corruption architecture and restore access to European Union funding that had been withheld during the previous administration of Viktor Orban.

Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who won a landslide election in April ending Orban's 16-year rule, submitted a bill to parliament creating a National Asset Protection and Recovery Office, while the European Commission confirmed Hungary will join the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Hours later, the Council of the European Union approved Hungary's national recovery plan, a procedural step toward releasing roughly €10 billion ($11.43 billion) in frozen EU funds.

The new anti-corruption body

The National Asset Protection and Recovery Office is the centrepiece of what Magyar has branded "Operation Purgatory." Its mandate, according to the bill published on parliament's website, is "to uncover past abuses and to prevent future violations." The text states that the vulnerability of public assets is "not only a financial but also a democratic risk."

The office will identify, trace, and recover assets unlawfully removed from public ownership and investigate public asset management more broadly. It will be led by a president and four deputies, three of whom must be prosecutors; all appointments require parliamentary approval. Magyar has previously said that corruption, including alleged misuse of public funds, has cost Hungarians 8% to 10% of gross domestic product in recent years. Orban has denied wrongdoing.

Joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office

The European Commission adopted the decision confirming Hungary's participation in the EPPO on Friday. Budapest becomes the 25th EU member state to join the body, which has been operational since June 2021 under chief prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi. Until now, Hungary, Ireland, and Denmark had remained outside the mechanism.

This is a welcome step in the fight against fraud and corruption. Hungarian citizens now have the guarantee that European funds will be used in their interest.

The EPPO investigates and prosecutes crimes affecting the EU's financial interests, including subsidy fraud, corruption, and cross-border VAT fraud exceeding €10 million. Hungary must now designate European prosecutors and delegated prosecutors and put administrative measures in place before the EPPO can exercise its powers on Hungarian soil. Magyar's government requested accession in May, shortly after taking office.

European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath welcomed the move, calling it a contribution to "strengthening the protection of European taxpayers' money and respect for the rule of law across the Union."

Unlocking EU recovery funds

The Council's approval of Hungary's recovery plan marks another step in a process that could release around €10 billion in grants and loans that Brussels had suspended over transparency and corruption concerns. Ursula von der Leyen had signalled in May, after meeting the new premier, that the EU was prepared to unblock approximately €16.4 billion for Hungary.

Magyar acknowledged the three developments in a Facebook post: "All good things come in threes. EU funds and the prosecutor's office, tick. And just now we submitted the law on the National Asset Protection and Recovery Office."

The convergence of the three measures on a single day is designed to demonstrate to Brussels that Budapest has implemented effective anti-corruption safeguards after years of strained relations under Orban. The EPPO accession and the domestic anti-corruption bill together create a dual enforcement architecture, one operated at the European level and the other within Hungary's own institutions.