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Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki reacted to a European Commission proposal on Sunday to suspend part of EU funds to Hungary over concerns about the mismanagement of EU funds.
The Polish Prime Minister said at a press conference in rural Poland that it was only natural that Warsaw would “oppose with all its might” any action by the European institutions “aimed at unlawfully depriving any Member State, and in particular Hungary, of (EU) funds.”
Morawiecki noted that according to information reaching Poland from Budapest and Brussels, “Prime Minister Orbán and the Hungarian government have prepared a draft agreement with the European Commission,” which the Hungarian side hopes will put an end to the dispute with the Brussels body.
The Polish Prime Minister said he hoped that Poland would receive the funds allocated to it under the new EU budget framework at the turn of this year and next. Reacting to the words of Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Morawiecki said that the Commissioner himself had said that despite the dispute between Warsaw and Brussels, there was no reason to launch a rule of law debate against Poland.
The debate about the rule of law in Hungary has been going on for years within the European Union. As the latest stage of the saga, the European Parliament adopted a report by Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield on Thursday regarding Hungary. According to the EP’s press statement, “the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaties, including democracy and fundamental rights in the country have further deteriorated since 2018, through the deliberate and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government, and exacerbated by EU inaction.”
Reacting to the report, Fidesz wrote in a statement that “while Europeans are suffering from failed Brussels sanctions and the energy crisis, the European Parliament, which has a left-wing majority, has no greater priority than attacking Hungary.”
Featured photo via MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán