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ACTS Post opinions with a wide range of perspectives to encourage constructive discussion.
Even the rhetoric of Budapest and Warsaw is a real shame. The Polish government irresponsibly screams that the EU had enslaved its country because it wanted to interfere in its internal affairs. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is sinking further into sewage, comparing the EU to the Soviet Union because, as you see, his country has been instructed. The current rulers of Budapest and Warsaw keep repeating how much they hate their communist past, but if the work is based on propaganda: they are excellent students of that regime.
Read the contracts at last!
Poland and Hungary have now vetoed the new EU budget over a clause linking the allocation of EU funds to the rule of law. And their arguments can make your hair stand on end. In fact, the idea was in the future to condition the distribution of money from the European budget to the observance of democratic norms in the Member States. It was about time he put on a contract uniform, because that decision had long been needed.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who always blatantly takes the lead over his Polish counterpart, at the same time claims that he was entitled to receive money transfers from Brussels, no matter what he does at home.
In Varashava they generally have the same affirmations. Brussels is seen as a kind of common fund, from which one simply takes the money, which then deceives the voters and provides some business to the party comrades to make them even more obedient. Let’s not forget that Poland is among the countries that receives the most money from the EU. In the last budget period alone, the country enjoyed annual net income of € 11 billion. This also applies to Hungary, although its European money is less.
However, both countries behave as if European money is not subject to any obligation on their part. So why don’t they finally read their 2004 accession treaties? It explicitly states that Member States are bound by European democratic principles. And these principles are not approximate nor are they subject to interpretation or negotiation. Among them, the independence of justice and freedom of the media are explicitly mentioned. Two principles that have long been trampled on in Hungary. And they are seen less and less in Poland.
The budget veto will put the EU back in the spiral of crisis. And let’s not forget that it was not easy to reach an agreement on pandemic funds. Now, however, the EU will have to pay a heavy price for years of inactivity and a lack of interest in seeing authoritarian structures built in Hungary and Poland. Because the Hungarian authorities did not control the media overnight, this happened drop by drop. And now Orban is about to liquidate the last independent information portal and the last free radio stations.
The same occurs with the dismantling of independent justice. A few months have passed and a new law has just been passed restricting the freedom of judges, until the government finally grants them full control. Brussels has lodged several appeals with the Court of Justice of the European Communities, but has otherwise continued. And the governments of the member states sought to avoid conflicts and did not dare to take advantage of even the few opportunities offered by Article 7 of the European Treaties.
It was the European People’s Party (EPP) that for years hid Orban’s devouring power in the European Parliament, and to this day it has not intended to expel his Fidesz party from its ranks. And when the EPP today urges Budapest and Warsaw to back down, in any case, it must also remember its own guilt for this catastrophe.
Budapest and Warsaw are clearly willing to blackmail
And Poland and Hungary are taking the other 25 countries hostage right in the middle of the pandemic, because they obviously intend to completely trample democracy. This is an unprecedented and unprecedented decision, showing the extent to which Jaroslav Kaczynski and Viktor Orban have turned their back on the partnership in Europe.
One would expect such behavior only from the most staunch enemies. Because, especially in southern Europe, people urgently need money in pandemic funds, as soon as possible. But the governments of Budapest and Warsaw are clearly willing to blackmail in order to continue financing their corrupt powers with European money. With such partners, you simply don’t need enemies. So now the EU urgently needs a new instrument: a clause for the expulsion of such countries.
Author: Barbara Wesel
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