EU inches toward landmark budget, virus recovery fund deal

BRUSSELS (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday that the European Union is on the brink of sealing an agreement on a massive budget and a coronavirus recovery package, signaling that it has almost overcome objections from his country and Poland about tying EU funds to upholding the rule of law.

“We are just one inch from reaching a consensus,” Orban told reporters as he arrived at EU headquarters in Brussels for a two-day summit, adding that all sides are fighting for ”a victory for common sense.”

“It is obvious that when our nations and so many millions of people are in real need because of (the) pandemic and the economic consequences of that, we have to behave reasonably,” said Orban, whose nationalist governments has been accused of undermining judicial independence and media freedoms.

The 1.82 trillion-euro ($2.21 trillion) long-term budget and recovery package is considered vital for many European countries whose economies have been devastated by the virus. Poland and Hungary had agreed to the deal in July but later vetoed it over a new mechanism that would allow Brussels to cut off EU funds to countries that violate Europe’s democratic standards.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that it's a case of us now, you tomorrow.

“We have to avoid any arbitrary and politically motivated decisions,” he said. “Today, we fear that we might be attacked in unjustified way, but of course in the future (it can be) any country.”

The apparent breakthrough comes just days after it appeared that their 25 EU partners might go it alone and create a new coronavirus recovery package without them.

Ahead of the two-day summit, EU diplomats and officials said the solution would take the form of a declaration clarifying that the...