Norway to restart grant payments to Hungary after decade-long hiatus

By Nora Buli OSLO, Oct 23 (Reuters) Norway has reached an agreement with Hungary allowing the restart of a grants scheme halted over disagreements with the previous Hungarian ​government, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters ‌on Friday. Eide, together with his counterparts from Iceland and Liechtenstein, will meet Hungarian Foreign Minister Anita Orban in Budapest on Monday to sign the €254.1-million ($285-million) agreement under the European Economic Area and Norway Grants scheme. The deal ‌covers ​the 2021-2028 funding period, although payments are ⁠possible until April 2031, ⁠and makes Hungary the fourth-largest of 15 recipients after Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. There were no payments in the 2014-2021 funding period because of a failure to agree on an ​independent fund operator with the previous government led by Viktor Orban, Eide said. So there has been no transfer from Norway ⁠to Hungary in the Norway and ⁠EEA grants for 10 years, he said, but ​the chan