From the 2026 budget audit
729 million Ft for regional development — through a foreign ministry budget line.
A geographically targeted regional development programme administered through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, duplicating the channels that local governments and EU cohesion funds already provide.
Roughly 182 Ft per taxpayer per year — 729 million Ft for regional development in the Central Danube corridor, routed through a separate ministerial appropriation rather than the local-government or EU cohesion-fund channels.
What you see — and what you don't
The seen: the communities and projects in the Central Danube corridor receiving ministerial development support. The unseen: every taxpayer funding a third allocation channel — on top of local government budgets and EU structural funds — where the deciding office is the foreign ministry, not the affected locality.
Objection
"Regional development needs dedicated coordination — the ministry plays a role that local governments can't."
Answer
Local authorities and EU cohesion funds exist specifically to coordinate regional priorities; adding a ministerial appropriation creates a third decision-maker for the same territory. A separate ministerial line duplicates the budget channel and adds an allocation layer without adding clarity about which projects have priority. The affected localities retain both their own budgets and EU cohesion allocations.
Share if you think regional development priorities should be set by the affected communities and their elected local authorities, not by a ministry line item.
The analyst's verdict
Central Danube Regional Development Tasks
Rationale
This line funds regional development tasks in the Central Danube corridor — a geographically-targeted discretionary programme administered through the foreign-affairs portfolio. Regional development grants directed to specific geographic areas or specific projects within them are a variant of the same category as the cross-border development grants analysed above: a transfer from the general taxpayer to a defined set of recipient communities or organisations, allocated by a political officeholder without a market price to guide the selection. Where infrastructure or development in the Central Danube corridor has value, the affected local authorities and communities can fund and prioritise their own development through their own budgets, EU cohesion fund allocations, and the ordinary capital-investment processes. Running a separate ministerial appropriation for regional tasks duplicates the budget channel and adds a layer of discretionary allocation without adding analytical clarity about which projects merit priority. The amount is modest and the line carries no contractual reliance interest; it can be closed in a single cycle.
Transition mechanism
Eliminate the appropriation in the 2026 cycle. Regional development priorities in the Central Danube corridor are addressed through the relevant local government budgets and EU structural and cohesion fund instruments.
Affected groups
Local authorities and organisations in the Central Danube corridor region receiving development support; the scale is small.
Free Society Institute
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