In 2022 the European Commission initiated the freezing of €6.3 billion of cohesion funds allocated to Hungary.
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The amount actually suspended (€6.3 billion) was set by the Council, not the Commission: the Commission's proposal was €7.5 billion (proposed September 2022, maintained on 30 November 2022) and the Council reduced it to approximately €6.3 billion on 12 December 2022.
The measure suspends budgetary commitments (not payments already made) under specific operational programmes in cohesion policy, and Hungary committed to remedial measures; part of the amount could be released upon implementation of milestones.
The official justification recorded in the legal act concerns deficiencies in public procurement and weaknesses in audit/control systems identified by Commission audits, i.e. a documented legal basis under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092, rather than the motive attributed by the speaker.
Context available before the session date: by 14 October 2026 the Commission had proposed reinstating €4.2 billion of the suspended cohesion policy commitments, so the amount still frozen had fallen below the 2022 figure.
The word 'solely' ('kizárólag') and 'political blackmail' are political characterisations that cannot be fact-checked and are not supported by the official documents.
The Xinhua and Commission-press-corner sources are dated close to or after the session date; the core 2022 decision documents are contemporaneous with the period described.