Both Hungary and Poland’s leaders doubled down on their threat to veto the EU's EUR1.8tn budget and coronavirus recovery package yesterday, continuing to reject efforts to tie the spending to the rule of law. Following a meeting in Budapest, Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán and his Polish counterpart Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki issued a joint statement that committed them to continue the fight: ‘We have decided to align our positions on these issues. Neither Poland, nor Hungary will accept any proposal that is deemed unacceptable by the other’. Morawiecki also warned that tying cash to democratic standards is ‘extremely dangerous for European unity. This is a bad solution which creates the danger of the breakup of the union’.
The hardening of the Hungarian-Polish position — which comes in spite of intensive attempts by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to settle the dispute — means the upcoming European Council summit on December 10-11 could be overshadowed by EU leaders clashing over the continued disagreement. With Budapest and Warsaw digging their heels in and adamant that they won't accept what they call ‘arbitrary’ rule of law provisions, the rest of the bloc and the European Parliament are also steadfast in that they won't give way on a principle they feel defines the EU's fundamental values.
As both sides continue to harden their positions the chances of a compromise where all parties save face are looking increasingly slim.