EU deal's ambiguous conditions could embolden nationalist leaders of Hungary, Poland

The European Union (EU) agreed to dilute the wordings of the conditionality of the agreement in Brussels which could embolden nationalist leaders of Hungary and Poland. The EU leaders decided to set no mechanism that could have forced Warsaw and Budapest to avoid implementing policies, which EU deem undemocratic, in order to receive money from the coronavirus recovery fund.

EU agreed to a ‘historic’ 750 billion euros coronavirus recovery fund on July 21 after a marathon four-day and four-night summit which witnessed fierce opposition and threats of a walkout. Announcing the budget for 2021-2027, EU Council said that 750 billion euros have been allocated to Next Generation EU (NGEU), of which 390 billion euros will be provided as grants and 360 billion euros as loans.

Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) is now likely to move ahead with its policies aimed at controlling media and courts without fears of sanctions from Brussels. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hailed the agreement as a victory for Warsaw and told reporters that Poland cannot be deprived of a single euro.

“We fought it out!” wrote Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Facebook, projecting the agreement as a victory for Budapest.

Read: EU Summit Breaks Up For The Night With No Agreement In Sight

'Historic step'

In the EU’s seven-year budget, 1074.3 billion euros have been allocated under the Multiannual financial framework (MFF). EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took to Twitter to announce the “historic step” but cautioned that they still require the support of the European Parliament. 

European Council said in a statement that the exceptional nature of the economic and social situation due to the COVID-19 crisis requires exceptional measures to support the economic recovery of the Member States. It knowledged that the member countries are slowly exiting the acute health crisis but the pandemic has posed a challenge of historic proportions.

Read: Insults, Slammed Fists: EU Virus Summit Goes Into 4th Day

(Image: Facebook / @orbanviktor)