2004–2010 2004 • Hungary joined the EU, together with
Poland, the
Czech Republic,
Slovakia and 6 other countries (1 May). • The first member states (
UK,
Ireland and
Sweden) opened their labour markets for the new member states (the accession treaty allowed up to 7 years transition period). •
Excessive deficit procedure launched against Hungary (5 July). 2007 • Neighbouring
Romania joined the EU and neighbouring
Slovenia joined the
Eurozone (1 January). • Hungary – together with neighbouring Slovakia and Slovenia among others – joined the
Schengen Area (21 December). 2008 • The EU, the
International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank provided EUR 20 billion
bailout package for Hungary (of which the EU provided EUR 6.5 billion) (4 November). 2009 • Neighbouring Slovakia joined the Eurozone (1 January). •
Jobbik helps to form
Alliance of European National Movements, it would last until 2019. Its members were
ultranationalist and
far-right parties from countries in Europe.
2010–2020 2011 • Hungary held the
presidency of the Council (1 January–30 June). • The last member states (
Germany and Austria) opened their labour markets for the new member states (the accession treaty allowed up to 7 years transition period). • Hungary requested a second (precautionary) financial assistance from the EU and the IMF (21 November). Later, Hungary was able to finance itself through the market and did not request further assistance. However, the
Hungarian parliament adopted the new law (30 December). 2012 • The European Commission launched infringement procedure against Hungary over the independence of its central bank, data protection authority and judiciary (17 January). • With the presence of Viktor Orbán and José Manuel Barroso, the
European Parliament had a harsh debate on recent political developments in Hungary (18 January). • Pro-government demonstration ("peace march") held in Budapest, with the slogan "We will not be a colony" (21 January). • The European Commission was satisfied with changes to central bank statute, but referred the cases of the data protection authority and the judiciary to the
European Court of Justice (25 April). Later, the Court found in both cases that Hungary has infringed EU law. 2013 • Excessive deficit procedure against Hungary closed (21 June). • Neighbouring
Croatia joined the EU (1 July). • Hungary repaid the 2008 bailout credit to the IMF (12 August). 2014 • After winning the
2014 Hungarian parliamentary election, Viktor Orbán called for building a Hungarian nationalist
illiberal democracy while remaining within the EU (26 July). 2015 • As a response to the
European migrant crisis, Hungary started to build a
border barrier (15 June). • With tens of thousands of migrants in Hungary, many frustrated with waiting started ignoring police controls on their way to Austria (4 September). • With qualified majority, the Council established a temporary and exceptional mechanism to relocate 120.000 refugees from
Greece and
Italy to other member states (22 September). Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Romania voted against the plan. Hungary and Slovakia asked the European Court of Justice to annul the decision, but in 2017 the Court dismissed the actions. • In Poland, the Eurosceptic
Law and Justice party won the
election and formed government becoming a key ally to Viktor Orbán (25 October). 2016 • Hungary repaid the 2008 bailout credit to the EU (6 April). • Hungary held a
referendum on the EU's refugee relocation plans (2 October). 98% of the valid votes rejected the relocation; however, with 44% turnout the result cannot be considered valid. • The
European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) found serious irregularities in the Budapest metro line project funded by the EU. 2017 • The Hungarian government launched a domestic campaign entitled "Let's stop Brussels!", suggesting that "Brussels" wanted to force Hungary to let in illegal migrants (March). • As Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland did not implement the 2015 Council Decision on relocation of refugees, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against those three Member States (14 June). 2018 • OLAF found serious irregularities in projects funded by the EU and run by a company once co-owned by the son-in-law of Viktor Orbán. The Hungarian prosecution launched a probe but soon dropped it. • Significant deviation procedure launched against Hungary (18 June; the first such procedure was launched the previous year against Romania). • The European Parliament initiated to trigger
Article 7 procedure against Hungary for persistently breaching the EU’s founding values (report by MEP
Judith Sargentini, 12 September; the first such procedure was initiated the previous year against Poland, by the European Commission). 2019 • Ahead of the
European Parliament election, the Hungarian government launched a domestic campaign entitled "You too have the right to know what Brussels is planning!", suggesting that the Commission had a secret plan to promote migration. The Commission rejected the claims (28 February). • The
European People’s Party suspended the membership of
Fidesz (20 March). • The European Parliament rejected the Hungarian commissioner designate
Laszlo Trocsanyi (as well as the Romanian commissioner designate
Rovana Plumb) (30 September).
Olivér Várhelyi was then nominated and appointed
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.
2020–present 2020 • The
European Council agreed to link the EU budget to
rule of law conditionality, but left details open (17-21 July). • The Commission published the first reports on rule of law in the Member States (20 September). • Hungary and Poland threatened to veto the EU budget if linked to rule of law conditionality, but finally a compromise was agreed (10 December). 2021 •
Fidesz leaves the
European People's Party group in the
European Parliament on 3 March 2021, after the EPP changed its rules to allow it to expel a party's entire delegation. • The Hungarian parliament passed
Act LXXIX, which included banning educational material and content depicting LGBT people in schools and on TV (15 June). In response, 17 EU leaders signed an open letter, vowing to take a stand against discrimination. The European Commission announced it would take legal action. The Hungarian government defended the law as a “bill [that] protects the rights of children” and accused the Commission of being biased. • The European Commission launched infringement procedures against Hungary and Poland “related to the equality and the protection of fundamental rights” (15 July). 2022 • The European Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU, as Hungary failed to respond to the concerns brought up during the 2021 infringement procedures (15 July). • The European Commission froze regular EU-payouts and grants allocated to Hungary because of breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary (18 September). Hungary committed to 17 judicial reform measures in order to unlock the grants (7 November). • The member states decided to suspend EUR 6.3 billion of the grants due to Hungary having only partially implemented the proposed reforms (12 December). 2023 • Neighbouring Croatia joined the Eurozone (1 January). • The European Commission blocked Fidesz-linked universities from signing new
Erasmus+ and
Horizon Europe grants (January). • 15 EU member states (
Belgium,
France,
Germany, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland,
Malta,
Denmark,
Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Slovenia,
Finland and Greece) have joined the ongoing infringement proceedings against Hungary (April). • The Hungarian parliament approved a reform to improve judicial independence in order to unlock the EU funds (3 May). • A clear majority of the European Parliament approved a resolution which questions Hungary's ability to hold the 2024
presidency of the Council of the European Union (1 June). 2024 • 30 June –
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (
Fidesz) forms a new European group called the
Patriots for Europe. • 10 July –
Mi Hazánk helps the German
Alternative for Germany (AfD) form a new European group called
Europe of Sovereign Nations ==See also==