Hungarian, Polish local governments promote direct access to EU recovery package

Fully 249 local councils in Hungary and Poland have turned to the European Union in a letter, proposing that the EU should open the opportunity to local governments of applying for direct grants in case the EU’s recovery package is thwarted by Hungarian and Polish veto.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and his Warsaw counterpart, Rafal Trzaskowski told a joint press conference that such grants would give local governments the opportunity to “pull their weight” in the coronavirus protection efforts.

“The citizens of Hungary and Poland cannot fall victim to our governments’ irresponsible behaviour,” Trzaskowski said.

Should the two countries veto the Next Generation EU recovery package, designed to offset the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the EU should put mechanisms in place to help local councils acces the funding directly, without the interference of the central government, he said.

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