Poland, Hungary threaten EU budget over rule-of-law issue
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The governments of Poland and Hungary threatened Monday to veto the European Union's next seven-year budget and coronavirus recovery plan due to a new mechanism that would link funding to the rule of law.
The 27-nation bloc's 1.8 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) budget for 2021-2027 was agreed upon last week after months of tough negotiations, and is meant to take effect within weeks.
It has sparked stiff resistance in Warsaw and Budapest, where right-wing governments are adamantly opposed to a tool that could cause them to lose EU money if they continue with policies seen as eroding democratic standards.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s press chief Bertalan Havasi said Monday that Orban had written a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel saying he would veto the budget and post-pandemic relief package.
“There’s no agreement on anything until there’s an agreement on everything,” Orban wrote.
In Warsaw, Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro declared at a news conference Monday that “There will be no consent to this mechanism” and that such a mechanism would “radically limit Poland’s sovereignty.”
EU officials insisted on the new mechanism linking rule of law to funding in order to have a tool to use against the governments of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, both of which stand accused by the EU of eroding judicial independence and media freedoms.
In addition, Orban's government faces criticism for stigmatizing non-governmental organizations promoting civil liberties and for allegedly misusing EU funds to enrich his political allies.
Some political observers think...
