Earlier in the day, a british newspaper reported that the European Commission was considering releasing the funds for Hungary to solicit Budapest's support for a new increased common budget, which includes aid to Ukraine.
"We are now learning about the possible position of the European Commission on this issue from the press. We have not officially received any position or a similar reaction, only questions last week, and we will answer them," Navracsics told a press conference aired by a Hungarian television news channel.
He added that Budapest was waiting for confirmation from the European Commission that there is a possibility to unfreeze the funds.
"For our part, we will, of course, answer the latest questions from the European Commission in full detail, they are mostly of a technical nature... We hope that our answers will satisfy the European Commission and we will be able to reach an agreement," Navracsics said.
Hungary expects to settle outstanding matters with Brussels by the end of 2023, the minister stressed, opining that his country had met all requests brought by the European Commission.
Navracsics also emphasized that Hungary received no request from Brussels to approve more assistance to Ukraine from the EU budget in return for the unblocking of funds. He suggested that the commission could consider both issues simultaneously but ruled out a package decision on them.
"I don't think these two topics can be bundled together in one political package. It's not how things are usually done… The discussions on the topics can run in parallel… But I think that, logically, they won't go together. At least, the commission has not suggested this," he explained.
The speech comes days after Gergely Gulyas, the Hungarian prime minister's chief of staff, hinted that Hungary might veto further EU funding for Ukraine unless Brussels unfroze budget money it was withholding from Budapest over alleged noncompliance with EU values.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has proposed topping up the 2024-2027 EU budget with an additional 66 billion euros, most of which will be used to support Ukraine over the next four years.