The European Commission allowed the release of EUR 10 billion in cohesion funds for Hungary, almost a year after the money was frozen over the country’s failure to address persistent rule-of-law concerns, writes Euronews.

This means the Hungarian government will be able to submit reimbursement requests of up to EUR 10.2 billion to finance development projects across the country.

“We have received sufficient guarantees to say that independence of the judiciary will be strengthened in Hungary”, said Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice.

“Today’s decision is however not the end of the process. We will continue to carefully monitor the situation and will react early on in case any backslidings were to occur”.

The green light comes in an increasingly fraught political environment, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ratchets up his opposition campaign to prevent the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, block a EUR 50-billion special fund to sustain the war-torn nation’s budget and halt further provisions of military aid.