BUDAPEST, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Hungary’s government will uphold its veto of the next European Union budget over because the budget links payments to democratic standards, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday.
Gergely Gulyas told a press briefing that Orban, who will meet his chief ally, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, later on Thursday, would present a joint written position on the standoff over the Hungary and Poland’s veto of the budget and an EU recovery fund.
The veto decision by Poland and Hungary, both beneficiaries of the budget and the recovery plan, is likely to delay hundreds of billions of euros in funds, just as the 27-nation bloc is facing a second wave of COVID-19 and a double-dip recession.
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LUBLIN, POLAND – SEPTEMBER 11: The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban takes part on a press conference during the Visegrad Summit at the Centre for the Meetings of Culture on September 11, 2020 in Lublin, Poland. The heads of state of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have gathered to discuss the upcoming extraordinary meeting of the European Council, the ongoing political crisis in Belarus as well as relations with Russia and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)
![LUBLIN, POLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban takes part on a press conference during the Visegrad Summit at the Centre for the Meetings of Culture on September 11, 2020 in Lublin, Poland. The heads of state of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have gathered to discuss the upcoming extraordinary meeting of the European Council, the ongoing political crisis in Belarus as well as relations with Russia and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)](https://www.msn.com/{"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"53","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1bnyzH.img?h=532&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2161&y=942"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1bnyzH.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2161&y=942"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1bnyzH.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=2161&y=942"}})
Both countries are under EU investigation for undermining the independence of courts, media and non-governmental organisations. With the conditions in place, the two nations risk losing access to tens of billions of euros.
“It is unacceptable that anyone should link disbursements of EU funds to political criteria,” Gulyas said, adding that the Hungarian government was sticking to this stance.
Poland and Hungary should ask the EU’s top court to assess the link between access to EU money and observing the rule of law, instead of blocking the EU’s 2021-2027 budget and recovery plan, the head of the European Commission said on Wednesday.
But Gulyas said there was nothing to take to the EU court as “there was no accepted rule of law criteria.”
He also said a proposal to ensure the right of appeal was a “good move by the German government” but was not sufficient.
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Ugandan presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi (in blue), also known as Bobi Wine, stands inside the courtroom in Iganga, Uganda, on Nov. 20, 2020.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit via a video conference call, at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 20, 2020.
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Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit (R) meets with his Spanish counterpart Fernando Grande-Marlaska during his official visit to discuss illegal migration in Rabat, Morocco, on Nov. 20, 2020.
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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addresses the nation in a televised address in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 20, 2020.
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A woman wearing protective mask leaves after lighting a candle in memory of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who died from COVID-19, at St. Marko’s church, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 20, 2020.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi speaks alongside U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after a security briefing on Mount Bental in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Ugandan security forces patrol on a street in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov. 19, 2020.
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (R) meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Hindu devotees take part in a ritual during the Chhath Puja festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Nov. 19, 2020.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard warship named after naval commander Abdollah Roudaki, sails into the Iranian southern territorial waters, on Nov. 19, 2020.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the media in Berlin, Germany, on Nov. 19, 2020.
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Redwan Hussein (L), State Minister for Foreign Affairs and spokesperson for the newly established State of the Emergency task force, and Mulu Nega, Chief Executive of the Provisional Administration of Tigray National Regional State, attend a news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Nov. 19, 2020.
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European Council President Charles Michel arrives for an EU Summit video conference at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 19, 2020.
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Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban in an interview at The Victoria Palace, the Romanian Government headquarters in Bucharest, Romania, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Villagers watch as smoke and flame rise from a burning house in Karmiravan, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 20, 2020.
Workers in traditional attire wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease during the daily re-enactment of the changing of the Royal Guards at Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Anthony Sadler, one of the three “heroes” of the Thalys train, leave the Paris courthouse during the trial of a suspected Islamist gunman who opened fire on a Thalys high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris in France, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte poses with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya ahead of a meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Protesters holding placards read “Oppose unfair action of election! To investigate voting fraud around the country!” as they take part in a rally to condemn results of the Nov. 8 general election in Yangon, Myanmar, on Nov. 20, 2020.
Nigeria’s Information Minister Lai Mohammed holds a news conference on protests in Abuja, Nigeria, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Vehicles are seen stuck on a road in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Nov. 19, 2020.
People wearing protective face masks are seen on a Belgrade Beovoz train, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Belgrade, Serbia, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen greet each other with an elbow bump during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Nov. 19, 2020.
Ethiopian men, who fled the war in the Tigray region, queue for wet food ration at the Um-Rakoba camp on the Sudan-Ethiopia border in Al-Qadarif state, Sudan, on Nov. 19, 2020.
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Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki, before heading off to Budapest, also sounded firm on the Polish veto at a news conference in Warsaw.
“We warn our friends that the EU should not go this way, we will talk about it with Prime Minister Orban,” he said.
“I am in contact with the Prime Minister of Slovenia and the Visegrad group and we are discussing how to convince the German or Portuguese presidency as soon as possible, and from July 1 the presidency is taken over by Slovenia, whose prime minister issued a letter very clearly specifying the risks, threats and errors associated with this regulation.”
Resolving the issue is also in the interest of Poland and Hungary, which would receive some of the highest amounts per capita from the EU. Both badly need the funds to help their economies overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.