Cohesion under pressure, Hungary tests the EU’s red lines

For cohesion to remain a meaningful instrument of unity, the EU must balance pressure with pragmatism while upholding its core values. This Special Report looks at the road ahead.

This article is part of our special report EUYou – Europe is you

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Euractiv's Public Projects May 26, 2025 21:49 2 min. read

Underwritten

Produced with financial support from an organization or individual, yet not approved by the underwriter before or after publication.

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This article is part of our special report EUYou – Europe is you.

Cohesion Policy, the European Union’s most ambitious investment package, stands at a critical juncture, caught between the need to respond to new challenges while maintaining its core mission.

Amid concerns that the policy is being transformed into a tool for military spending, and amid global uncertainties and US unpredictability, experts are calling on the EU to recalibrate it and evolve it into a stabilising force.

For cohesion to remain a meaningful instrument of unity, they argue that the bloc must balance pressure with pragmatism. It must find a way to uphold its core values while ensuring that no member state is left behind.

At the heart of this debate lies Hungary.

Defiant of EU shared values yet heavily dependent on EU funds, the country finds itself at a crossroads. Whether the Union decides to strengthen conditionality or reform the policy, Hungary risks seeing its share of EU funding reduced.

Simultaneously, the bloc appears increasingly unwilling to finance a government seen as deliberately undermining European values – a form of punishment that is already taking a toll on Hungary’s strained economy.

This Special Report examines what the EU must do to reinforce its unity – and what Hungary stands to lose if it continues to “play the villain”.

Economy