Hungary and Poland have a “good chance” of getting their way in the EU budget fight, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Tuesday.
Budapest and Warsaw are blocking the EU’s €1.8 trillion budget-and-recovery package because of opposition to a mechanism linking access to European funds to respect for rule of law criteria. The Hungarian and Polish stance has sparked fears that the bloc will not have a new budget in place on January 1, and has led the European Commission to float ideas for an alternative recovery fund consisting of 25 member states.
The German presidency of the Council of the EU has been working to broker a compromise ahead of a summit of EU leaders which is set to begin on Thursday in Brussels.
Discussions with the German presidency are “quite promising,” Orbán told Polish broadcaster TVP following talks in Warsaw with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński. “I think we are close to reach an agreement, which is a victory, and a good outcome for Poland and Hungary as well, and could be very good for [the] European Union,” the prime minister said, without giving any details.
While there have been signals that Poland’s government is divided about its strategy over the past days, the meeting with Orbán was attended by leaders of both of Law and Justice’s coalition partners, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro — a hardliner — and Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin, a moderate.
Speaking with PolSat, another broadcast, Orbán said he believes there is a fair chance of reaching an agreement during Thursday’s session.
“If the talks over the next days go in a preferable direction, then we have a good chance of winning,” he said.
