Orbán, Morawiecki: Conditionality would weaken EU rule of law
Change language:
Making the EU budget conditional on upholding certain rule-of-law criteria would weaken, not strengthen the rule of law in the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, said in a joint declaration after meeting in Budapest on Thursday.
The two leaders said the planned mechanism was open to political abuse.
They said the conditions proposed were not in accordance with the EU treaties and set out definitions of the rule of law that were “broad and vague”, according to the document sent to MTI by the Prime Minister’s press office.
At the same time, the two prime ministers emphasised their countries’ commitment to European core values.
Orban: Hungary won’t accept proposal deemed unacceptable by Poland
Hungary will not accept any proposal on the European Union’s next multi-year budget and post-pandemic recovery fund that Poland deems unacceptable, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a press statement.
Linking the political debate concerning the rule of law and the economic issue of managing the coronavirus crisis was “irresponsible”, Orbán said in his joint press statement with Morawiecki, arguing that a crisis required swift economic decision-making.
Managing the crisis should not require drafting rule-of-law regulations, Orbán said. The next EU budget, on the other hand, cannot legally be approved without Hungary and Poland’s support, he noted.
Concerning Hungary’s veto of the budget and virus recovery fund, Orbán said he not only had a right under European law, but also a “patriotic duty”, to thwart any decision that would hurt the interests of the Hungarian people.
“I can’t risk having positions forced on Hungary that the Hungarian people would disapprove of,” the prime minister said.
Citing a declaration he issued jointly with Morawiecki, Orbán said Hungary would refuse to accept any proposal that is deemed unacceptable by Poland.
“So we will spend the coming months fighting together,” he said.
Orbán said the more powerful member states “trying to put pressure on Hungary” and their media were giving the impression that Hungary was wrong to exercise its veto right. The prime minister said the veto was a legitimate tool guaranteed by the bloc’s founding treaty which a member state could exercise if it believes a given decision hurts its interests.
Orbán said he not only had a right under European law, but also a “patriotic duty”, to thwart any decision that would hurt the interests of the Hungarian people.