European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen defended her commission’s decision to release EU funds to Hungary in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday. Budapest has passed legislation to strengthen judicial independence in Hungary, von der Leyen told the EU legislature. “This is what we requested and this is what Hungary delivered,” she said. In December, the commission released around €10 billion ($10.9 billion) in frozen EU funds to Hungary despite ongoing allegations of abuse of power and corruption in the country. Other funds worth almost €12 billion, and billions more in…