Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he not only had a right under European law to veto the EU budget, but also a “patriotic duty” to thwart any decision that would hurt the interests of the Hungarian people.
“I can’t risk having positions forced on Hungary that the Hungarian people would disapprove of,” the prime minister said. Citing a declaration he issued jointly with Morawiecki, PM Orbán said Hungary would refuse to accept any proposal that is deemed unacceptable by Poland.
Morawiecki said there was a danger that the European Union’s “rule-of-law mechanism, motivated by completely new, arbitrary political decisions” could lead to the bloc’s disintegration. The mechanism’s introduction would be “extremely dangerous” for the EU as a whole, he said, arguing that legislation must not contravene the EU treaties.
Morawiecki noted the veto was written into the EU treaties as a way of safeguarding the interests of member states. Hungary and Poland will resort to that option unless the proposed mechanism is changed, he said, insisting that the current proposal to make funding contingent on upholding certain rule-of-law criteria was “unacceptable”. Applying the veto would help to protect the sovereignty of the two countries as well as the spirit of the EU treaties, the Polish PM added.
Photo credit: MTI/FISCHER ZOLTÁN