At the anonymous voting held at its session on 17 December 2024, the European Parliament, with 344 votes in favour, elected human rights expert, a former member of the Supervisory Committee of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), former Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal to the position of European Ombudsman. Ms. Teresa Anjinho will take office after 27 February 2025.

In his congratulation letter, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary expressed his sincere hopes for a successful cooperation between their respective offices in the future. Furthermore, he made mention of the investigation launched by the European Ombudsman currently in office Ms. Emily O'Reilly into the exclusion of Hungarian university students and researchers from the Erasmus+ and Horizont programmes, highlighting that Teresa Anjinjo’s experience gained both as a member of the Supervisory Committee of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the former Deputy Ombudsman of Portugal may mean a guarantee for the fair resolution of the situation of Hungarian university students and researchers, which counts as grave discrimination.

Hungarian university students and researchers were excluded from the Erasmus+ and Horizont programmes two years ago. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary asked the current European Ombudsman to launch an investigation into the reasons for, and the lawfulness of the exclusion of Hungarian university students and researchers from the Erasmus+ and Horizont programmes. Furthermore, he asked the European Ombudsman to consider, even before closing the investigations, the promotion of the dialogue between the parties with a view to finding a reassuring solution to the problem as soon as possible, and ensuring that Hungarian university students and researchers may fully use the opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ and Horizont programmes again, in the same way as the citizens of other EU member states.