Poland still open to compromise with EU over budget veto -minister to media

Hungary and Poland said on Thursday the EU could not attach rule-of-law conditions to the disbursement of funds unless the bloc changed its founding treaty, digging in their heels after vetoing the budget and a coronavirus recovery fund. "We have concrete doubts regarding a specific regulation, the situation is extraordinary and we demand our veto be treated seriously.

Poland wants the European Union to treat Warsaw and Budapest's veto of the bloc's budget seriously and to continue trying to find a compromise, state news agency PAP quoted Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau as saying. Hungary and Poland said on Thursday the EU could not attach rule-of-law conditions to the disbursement of funds unless the bloc changed its founding treaty, digging in their heels after vetoing the budget and a coronavirus recovery fund.

"We have concrete doubts regarding a specific regulation, the situation is extraordinary and we demand our veto be treated seriously. (We expect) a response to it and a further search for a compromise," PAP quoted Rau as saying. He also said a proposal by the head of the European Commission that Poland and Hungary should ask the European Union's top court to assess the link between access to EU money and observing the rule of law did not address their doubts.

The 1.1 trillion euro 2021-2027 EU budget, the 750 billion recovery fund and the rule of law regulation are all linked in one package by the German EU presidency, so Hungary's and Poland's veto to one rule of law regulation also stops the two financial projects.