Hungarian Government to Veto EU Budget

In a letter, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, President of the European Council that the Hungarian government was vetoing legislation on the EU's seven-year budget and the recovery fund.

The Hungarian government's website quotes the head of the PM's press office, Bertalan Havasi recalling that Viktor Orbán had previously pointed out that it jeopardized trust between Member States, as well as Hungary's interests, if the next seven-year budget and the emergency recovery package were subject to conditions that - in the PM's opinion - "do not specify what the alleged infringement is, and may arbitrarily lead to a policy-based budget sanction using a double standard."

The Reuters news agency notes that "EU leaders decided in July that access to EU funds should be tied to a government’s respect for the rule of law, a decision that was clarified in negotiations between EU governments in November."

The European Parliament specified that "Rule of law is laid down in the EU treaties as one of the values on which the Union is based. It means that governments should be bound by law, that they should not take arbitrary decisions and that citizens should be able to challenge their actions in independent courts. It also enshrines the fight against corruption, which unfairly favors some to the detriment of others, and the safeguarding of media freedom, thus ensuring the public is properly informed about the work of government."

Hungarian opposition parties heavily criticized the Prime Minister's decision as detrimental to the interests of the Hungarian people.