For years, students at 21 Hungarian universities watched friends from other countries pack their bags for Erasmus while they stayed at home. Now Brussels wants to let them go, along with billions in EU money frozen under Viktor Orbán. The change of heart rewards the reforms of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s new government.
Picture a biology student in Debrecen who dreams of a semester in Lyon. Without an Erasmus grant, the rent alone puts it out of reach, and for the past two academic years her university has not been able to offer one. That may soon change. On 23 September, the European Commission proposed reopening Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe to her university and 20 others, and releasing €4.2bn in cohesion funds, the money the EU uses to help poorer regions catch up.
The decision matters well beyond the national budget. As many as 13,000 Hungarian students used to join Erasmus+ every year. More than two-thirds of them studied at the universities later cut off, Hungary’s largest student organisation told Bloomberg in 2023, which meant more than 8,000 young people a year. The affected schools could still host foreign students, but their own students lost access to EU grants for going abroad. Oszkár Roginer, a Hungary expert at the Prague-based EUROPEUM Institute, told the Czech news site iROZHLAS in 2023 that the ban would hurt young people from smaller towns the most, as they cannot afford a semester abroad without support.
From Orbán’s trusts to Magyar’s reforms
The dispute goes back to Viktor Orbán’s years in power. From 2021, his government handed 21 universities over to public interest trusts. Ministers and allies of his Fidesz party sat on their boards. Brussels saw a clear risk of conflicts of interest and corruption.
In December 2022, the Council suspended 55 per cent of commitments under three cohesion programmes, worth €6.3bn at the time. It acted under the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism, a tool that lets the EU hold back money where corruption or weak courts put its budget at risk. The Council also barred the trusts from signing new EU contracts. Hungary has since lost part of that money for good, including about €1bn in early 2025, when the Orbán government failed to deliver the required reforms. That is why Budapest can now recover only €4.2bn.
The tide turned in April 2026, when Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his Tisza party defeated Mr Orbán in a landslide. Mr Magyar campaigned on bringing EU money home. In May, he agreed a €16.4bn package with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, including €10bn from the post-pandemic recovery fund. By July, EU finance ministers had approved Hungary’s revised recovery plan, and the country had joined the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, a step Mr Orbán had long refused to take.
On 9 September, Budapest formally notified the Commission of its remedies. Brussels concluded that Hungary had strengthened its Integrity Authority, set up a comprehensive asset declaration system, and extended judicial review of decisions by prosecutors. The government has also begun to dismantle the university trusts. That is why the proposal now covers Horizon Europe, which the May deal left out until the trusts were on their way out.
Missed semester, final hurdle
The money is not flowing yet. The Council now has one month to decide, and under the conditionality rules it acts by qualified majority. Only from the day it lifts the measures can the EU sign new contracts with the affected universities, Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari told reporters. “That’s the date to watch,” he said. The 2026/27 academic year has already begun, and Erasmus+ grants at the 21 universities remained frozen as the semester started. Education Minister Judit Lannert announced a return in early September, but critics accused the government of sending its evidence to Brussels too late.
The Commission will always protect EU funds from corruption and misuse. That policy will not change. What has changed is Hungary’s approach.
— Piotr Serafin, Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration
Brussels has good reason to tread carefully. In December 2023, the Commission unfroze €10.2bn for the Orbán government on the eve of a summit on Ukraine’s accession talks. The European Parliament took the Commission to court over that decision. In February 2026, an Advocate General at the EU Court of Justice advised the judges to annul the 2023 decision, arguing that money can flow only once reforms are in force and actually applied. This time, the Commission says it assessed both Hungary’s new rules and their implementation. “The Commission will always protect EU funds from corruption and misuse. That policy will not change. What has changed is Hungary’s approach,” said Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin.
Not every euro is back on the table. Another €3.5bn in cohesion funding remains blocked under a separate EU procedure, Commission spokesperson Maciej Berestecki said. About €2.7bn hinges on academic freedom, the child protection law, and the right to asylum, while roughly €800m depends on Hungary’s strategies for social inclusion and Roma integration. For students at the 21 universities, however, the more urgent question is simpler: whether they can still pack their bags for the spring semester.
