India, May 30 -- Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar will meet Friday for the first time since taking office with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in a bid to unlock billions of euros frozen over the democratic backsliding of his predecessor.

Partly by campaigning on forging stronger ties with the European Union, Magyar's earthquake success in the April election ended the 16-year rule of Viktor Orban, who had vilified von der Leyen and other powerbrokers in the 27-nation bloc as he hollowed out institutional checks and balances in Hungary.

Those actions, and concerns over corruption and the erosion of judicial independence under Orban, prompted the bloc to freeze the billions in funding to Budapest in 202...