[ad_1]
The Turkish-Greek debate, Chinese relations, the crisis in Belarus: foreign policy issues dominate the EU summit in Brussels that started in the afternoon. At the two-day meeting, EU heads of state and government are also expected to discuss a recovery package adopted in the summer to help the EU help economies struggling due to the coronavirus epidemic.
We have a correspondent in Brussels, Katalin Zöldhegyi.
An extraordinary EU summit has started in Brussels
The meeting will review relations with Turkey and the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, but will also focus on EU-China relations. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will represent Hungary at the two-day hearing. The EU summit would have originally been held last week, but the president of the European Council had to be quarantined after one of his colleagues was diagnosed with a coronavirus.
An extraordinary two-day meeting of the European Council in Brussels, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, will focus on relations with Turkey and the review of the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, but will also focus on cooperation with China and the crisis. in Belarus.
The EU Heads of State and Government will pay particular attention to the conflict between Turkey and Greece and Cyprus, as well as to the review of EU-Turkey relations.
The Heads of State and Government are expected to reiterate their concern over the tensions that have developed. In an invitation letter on Tuesday, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, recalled that at their last meeting, the leaders of the Member States had assured Greece and Cyprus of their full solidarity. He also said that the meeting will discuss all options to protect the interests of the European Union and its member states.
EU-China relations will also be on the agenda, given the European Union’s willingness to work with Beijing to address major global challenges such as the coronary virus epidemic and climate change, among others. The European Council is expected to address other foreign affairs issues, including the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and the situation in Belarus. They also review developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the state of negotiations on their future relationship after the end of British membership in the EU (Brexit).
Furthermore, participants in the Brussels meeting will discuss the opportunities of the European Union single market, the further development of industrial policy and the use of the opportunities offered by the latest digital developments.
Orbán: If disputes over the rule of law make it difficult for the financial fund to function, there is the possibility of an intergovernmental solution
If the debate on the link between the rule of law and budget issues hampers the launch of a financial fund for the coronavirus epidemic, an intergovernmental agreement outside the EU institutions is possible, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told Thursday. MTI in Budapest before leaving for the EU summit in Brussels. .
The prime minister hopes that the meeting, either formally or informally, will undoubtedly discuss the decision made this summer to create a large financial fund in addition to the usual seven-year budget to help the troubled economies, the European countries. There are heated debates about its implementation and many want to link it to the rule of law, he said.
At the same time, the Hungarian government’s position is that “there is a crisis in Europe now, a crisis must be tackled now, this financial fund must be made available to countries as soon as possible, and the pace cannot be slowed by debates about the state of right, “said Viktor Orbán.
Therefore, he called for the intention to link problems of the rule of law with poorly scheduled and poorly timed financial problems.
However, if the discussions prevented the Next Generation Fund from becoming operational in the current context, there is still the possibility that the European states establish this financial fund on an intergovernmental basis, that is, outside the EU institutions intergovernmental agreement. In this way, the burden of disputes within the union can be eased and money can be delivered quickly to countries in need, he explained.
He also said that the current EU summit is planned to focus on foreign policy issues, such as the question of relations with Turkey, the long-term relationship with China and the EU’s response to the situation in Belarus. Regarding the latter, the Visegrad Four (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) have an independent initiative, they want to provide a kind of European Marshall aid to the Belarusians, he recalled.
“I have not received an answer yet, but I am going to Brussels right now and obviously I will get there,” the prime minister said in a letter a few days ago to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, informing her that Hungary and the Hungarian people suspend bilateral political relations with the vice-president of the College, Vera Jourova, for her insulting statements, and considers the resignation of the EU commissioner essential.
Viktor Orbán emphasized to the MTI: the Hungarian position remains unchanged, and the members of the European Commission, including Vera Jourova, must be impartial and objective by law. This means that you cannot speak disrespectfully to any country or to the citizens of any country. “No official of the European Union can speak disrespectfully to the citizens of Hungary,” he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that double standards should be avoided, because if the Commissioner had made that voice and spoke so disrespectfully about the Germans or the French, “we could be sure that he would not have stayed in office for a single minute” because the Germans and the French would not have tolerated it. And if we cannot speak like that to the French and the Germans, then we cannot speak to the Hungarians in such a disrespectful way and “we continue to insist on this position,” he stressed.
MTI
[ad_2]
