Brussels, Nov. 13, (dpa/GNA) – The European Union is on a collision course with Budapest after a Hungarian government official on Thursday threatened to veto the bloc’s long-term budget and recovery fund.
Gergely Gulyas, the head of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s office, hinted that his country could vote against a budget package over the so-called “rule-of-law” mechanism.
“We consider it simply unacceptable that the current EU presidency attempts to alter the [EU] treaties in such a creeping way,” he said at a press conference.
The principle of conditionality – under which the EU could withhold money from member states if it considers them to be drastically breaching rule-of-law principles – amounted to “blackmail” against countries like Hungary, he said.
Hungary was “not in the position to contribute to the [necessary] consensus” when voting on the proposal, he said.
Brussels, in conjunction with several member states, has been trying to have more say over alleged rule-of-law breaches in a country.
It is unclear whether Warsaw, which would also be affected by the mechanism, also plans to block the budget.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki waded in on the debate on Thursday, saying, “Arbitrary mechanisms based on arbitrary and politically motivated criteria cannot be accepted because they do not take into account the essential substantive aspects of European law.”
A veto by Budapest could come at a hefty price: The proposal is part of a package on the EU’s recovery fund and long-term budget.
After months-long negotiations with the European Parliament, brokers finally reached an agreement on the about 1.1-trillion-euro seven-year budget on Tuesday, but it still needs to be approved by the EU countries and parliament in voting.
It could also prevent the 750-billion-euro coronavirus recovery fund from being approved, potentially delaying much-needed funds for countries struggling in response to the pandemic.
Orban alluded to such a potential veto already last week, saying he could “not guarantee” approving the package.
GNA