Hungarian, Polish PMs To Discuss EU Budget Veto

Budapest, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2020 ) :Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will hold talks with his Polish counterpart in Budapest Thursday on their recent EU budget veto, as Orban suggested a possible solution to the row.

In an interview with the German weekly Die Zeit to be published on Thursday, Orban suggested separating out the rule-of-law dispute from the bloc's coronavirus response.

"The countries in need want the money quickly. Let's give it to them," he told the paper.

"Other countries want new rules about the rule of law -- OK, let's talk about that. But the first thing we have to do immediately, the second is less urgent" and "can wait a few months," he continued.

On Thursday, Orban will receive his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki to discuss their next steps after vetoing the EU's 1.8-trillion-euro ($2.1-trillion) budget and coronavirus rescue package.

Both states are accused by Brussels of rolling back democratic freedoms.

The talks between the two leaders were confirmed to the Hungarian state newswire MTI by Orban's press officer on Wednesday.

"The meeting's agenda is expected to include the MFF as Poland and Hungary intend to coordinate EU Budget negotiating positions," said a message by the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU on Twitter, referring to the bloc's multi-annual financial framework (MFF) or long-term budget.

Morawiecki said after the veto that a "European oligarchy" was trying to bully weaker EU members, while Orban called the conditionality plan a politically motivated "weapon" and a form of "blackmail" against member states opposed to immigration.

EU leaders have since intensified efforts to convince Orban and Morawiecki to drop their veto, which has plunged the bloc into a new crisis threatening joint efforts to fight the epidemic.

- EU anger - While the veto was not a complete surprise, the stand-off angered EU countries, with many keenly awaiting payouts from the stimulus to help fix economies shattered by the pandemic and fears of worse to come.

But the rule-of-law issue is hugely sensitive for both Warsaw and Budapest.

Poland is already subject to an EU investigative procedure over its efforts to trim the independence of the judiciary, as is Hungary for an erosion of democratic norms, such as press freedom, under Orban's rule.

"Many types of solutions are possible, it's just a question of political will," Orban said last Friday.

Acceptable solutions for Hungary and Poland "would be those reached on the basis of legal standpoints rather than the political majority," he told Hungarian public media.

In the Die Zeit interview, Orban accused Germany, which currently holds the bloc's rotating presidency, of being responsible for the current impasse.

"What's happening now is what we describe as a creeping change of contract, a renegotiation in which those potentially affected aren't being consulted," he said.

"The German train is hurtling towards us and wants to derail us," he said, adding that he had conveyed his concerns to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.