Budapest Airport also briefed EP delegation on Hungarian business environment

"At the meeting, the delegation was informed about ongoing cases related to the airport, as well as other companies' cases related to the current business environment in Hungary," Budapest Airport told Hvg.hu about the business meeting, where members of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control met with representatives of multinational companies operating in Hungary last week.

According to the paper, it is unlikely that Budapest Airport would have reported positively on the Hungarian government's activities, as several companies at the meeting said they felt that the laws targeting them were aimed at driving them out of Hungary.

On this point, earlier this week Green MEP Daniel Freund bluntly said that, as far as he knew, "the Hungarian government – the government of an EU country – is using mafia-like methods to bring entire sectors under its control. I think the Commission should consider imposing further restrictions and sanctions on the government."

A delegation from the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control paid a three-day visit to Budapest last week, where they were briefed on issues including the protection of the EU budget and the rule of law conditionality mechanism. We wrote in detail about the questions left unanswered following the visit, as well as about what is happening with the frozen EU funds.

For two years now, the Hungarian government has regularly floated the idea of the state acquiring Liszt Ferenc International Airport, which is operated by Budapest Airport. At a government briefing n February, Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyás announced that the government had given Márton Nagy, the Minister for Economic Development, the authorization to negotiate with the airport's owners. At the time, Gulyás also said that the intention was there, negotiations were ongoing and he hoped that the deal could be completed this year.