Hungarian, Polish muni councils press for direct access to EU recovery fund

EU

The mayors of Budapest and Warsaw on Monday said 249 Hungarian and Polish local governments have proposed to European Union leaders in a letter allowing them direct access to the EU recovery fund if it is established without the participation of the two countriesʼ central governments, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

At a joint online press conference, Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony voiced opposition to a policy exercised by the central governments of Hungary and Poland that "vetoes European cooperation", adding that he believes the Hungarian governmentʼs stand is not an expression of the will of the Hungarian people or of the interests or the values of the Hungarian nation.

"The bigger majority in Hungary and Poland want to remain part of Europe, and continue to want to be constructive," Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski said.

Hungary and Poland have vetoed the recovery fund and the next EU budget over a mechanism that would attach payouts to observance of the rule of law.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki said in a joint declaration issued late in November that the proposed rule-of-law conditionality mechanism would "undermine the Rule of Law within the Union by degrading it to a political instrument".

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