António Costa eudebates with Ursula von der Leyen the VETO MFF case of Hungary and Poland

According to the Lisbon’s media, Portuguese government opposed connecting EU funds with the rule of law at the recent Council of the European Union. https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/special-debates/future-of-europe/orban-takes-europe-hostage-as-eu-leaders-fail-to-unblock-budget/ #ECB Press Conference #Lagarde #eudebates #Economy #ECON #Eurozone #Euro #ESM #eudebates #NextGenerationEU #Portugal #Costa

Portuguese government supported Poland's and Hungary’s rights on rule of law mechanism.

Referring to an interview with current MEP and former FM Witold Waszczkowski, Portuguese paper Publico stated that the Portuguese government supported Poland's and Hungary’s arguments at the recent Council of the European Union to not associate the EU budget with a rule of law mechanism.

Although Portuguese diplomats do not want to officially confirm the information, other sources, including ones in Poland, prove that Portugal has opposed the proposed mechanism.

Waszczykowski told Publico that “Portugal played on our side (…) in this ideological war.”

According to the paper, the MEP confirmed that Portugal’s position behind the closed doors of the Council was critical concerning the mechanism.

Moreover, as the paper put it: “In German documents,” Portugal is also described as “extremely critical” toward the proposals that forced Poland and Hungary to veto the EU budget.

Portuguese Radio Observador points out that although Portugal’s diplomats claim to support abiding by the rule of law in the European Union, PM Antonio Costa has been motioning for several months for the rule of law mechanism to not delay EU funds.

The Portuguese radio station noted that in July, Costa, a socialist, had traveled to Budapest to meet his “hitherto unlikely ally” PM Viktor Orbán.

Meanwhile, EU commissioner for economic affairs Paolo Gentiloni expressed an opinion on Sunday that the Polish and Hungarian vetoes will be overcome. He emphasized that both countries need the money from the EU fund.

“These are countries affected by the pandemic, which need these funds and will receive no less money than Italy, if we consider their populations. It would be very difficult for them to reject this,” he explained, referring to the EU recovery fund.

Gentiloni added that the vetoes will be overcome owing to “certain methods of diplomacy.”

Poland and Hungary have put forward their reservations concerning the proposal to connect EU funds with rule of law.

On Thursday, PMs Morawiecki and Orbán signed a declaration in which they underlined that the common goal of both governments was to “act against the creation of a mechanism that will not only strengthen but even undermine the rule of law in the EU by degrading it into a political tool.”
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