The European Commission has Orban’s letter on the rule of law and the budget. There will be an answer

The EC confirmed on Monday that it had received a letter from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who threatened to veto the EU budget and the reconstruction fund if the disbursement of funds is related to the rule of law. So far, no such letter has come from Warsaw.

– I can confirm that the President has received this letter. Naturally, we will look at it and respond in due time, said the spokesman of the European Commission Eric Mamer at a press conference in Brussels.

In this context, he recalled the positive reaction of the Commission to the agreement of the German Presidency representing the Member States and the European Parliament on the rule of law mechanism. – We will continue our efforts to secure agreement on the multiannual financial framework package and the reconstruction fund – emphasized Mamer.

When asked if a similar letter, like the one from Hungary, was also sent to the EC by the authorities in Warsaw, he replied that there was no such information. The Polish government, similarly to the Hungarian government, was critical of the agreement that links EU funds to the rule of law.

The portal mandiner.hu informed about Orban’s letter. Apart from the European Commission, the letter was also sent to the German presidency of the EU and to the leaders of the next presidency, namely Slovenia and Portugal, and to the head of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Orban wrote that although Hungary is committed to cooperation, in light of the current developments it is unable to guarantee the necessary unanimity to adopt the financial package.

The Hungarian Prime Minister emphasized that the inclusion of the rule of law condition in the budget and the reconstruction package may threaten the trust between the Member States, as well as the interests of Hungary. He stressed that the essence of the compromise of EU heads of state and government in July was that the decision on the rule of law and the EU’s multiannual financial framework and the reconstruction package were taken simultaneously. “The European Parliament and the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union have rejected this with the current proposal,” says Orban’s opinion, the Hungarian portal.

Agreement on a conditionality and rule of law mechanism in the EU budget in negotiations between the European Parliament and the German presidency was reached on Thursday. On Friday it was discussed by EU ambassadors. It is also scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting.

Krzysztof Strzępka from Brussels

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