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Poland and Hungary provoked redheads and many misunderstandings in the EU for weeks. Both countries delayed a € 1.8 billion resolution, from which both countries benefit more than average, just to avoid being measured against basic democratic values in the future.
It has offended citizens, scientists and apprentices, big businessmen and small farmers. Starting January 1, 2021, they will have to rely on EU funds to study abroad, research new medical devices, grow more organic vegetables, and drive fewer cars and more trains.
Self-confident rulers in Poland and Hungary
The veto of Poland and Hungary had nothing to do with the matter. It has long been clear to everyone involved that Poland and Hungary will have to give in. Because both states knew that Plan B from the other EU states, the EU budget and the crown loans could become reality in other ways if necessary.
That is revealing. Because Poland and Hungary played this game of poker anyway. That is questionable.
Because it shows the confidence with which the rulers of Hungary and Poland are fighting against the basic values of the EU, although in reality it should be a matter of course to adhere to them. In the EU, for example, it must be taken for granted that all people can love others, regardless of gender, skin color and religion, that the courts must be independent of politics and that freedom of opinion must be guaranteed.
In Poland and Hungary this is no longer a matter of course. After all, the EU did not allow itself to be blackmailed on this issue. The rule of law mechanism is done. The EU budget and the Corona reconstruction program now too.
The EU got involved in poker
However, it is regrettable that the EU has even been involved in such a game of poker. The EU Parliament should have decided a long time ago to link the repayment of EU loans to compliance with basic democratic standards.
It was the 27 EU Member States that wavered in the Council for years. Poland and Hungary did not have to feel alone. If everyone had decided earlier on this issue, it would not have been possible to veto the EU budget. If member states had previously threatened to repay billions in loans to tackle the crown pandemic to liberal and non-illiberal states, the governments of Poland and Hungary would have been under pressure, not the other way around.
If member states had resolutely upheld those basic values, then the governments of Poland and Hungary would not have been able to sell a rotten compromise to their voters as a success. With more foresight and much determination, the EU should have denied the two Eastern European countries this small victory.
Charles Liebherr
EU Correspondent, SRF
