EU reaches budget and stimulus deal

Commenting on the EU rule of law conditionality deal agreed on Thusday, a pro-government columnist thinks that the EU misjudged the Hungarian and Polish determination to withstand efforts to curb their national sovereignty. A left-wing pundit likens the dispute to the Battle of Borodino.

In Magyar Hírlap, Péter G. Fehér thinks that the EU leadership utterly misjudged Hungary and Poland by assuming that the two countries could be blackmailed into approving the original rule of law conditionality. The pro-government columnist believes that if they had accepted the original version, Hungary and Poland would have followed Western Europe on the path of “abandoning nation-state, Christianity, traditional family and sovereignty” in return for EU funding. Fehér believes that both Prime Ministers considered the veto as an identity issue for Hungary and Poland, two countries whose history make them extremely sensitive to efforts of foreign intrusion into their sovereign affairs.

Népszava’s Gábor Horváth likens the deal to the Battle of Borodino between Napoleon and Russia. The left-wing columnist thinks that Prime Minister Orbán realized that he cannot win the battle over the rule of law conditionality, and so he withdrew to avoid a devastating defeat and gain time while he prepares for the next battle. Horváth believes that the introduction of the original rule of law proposal would have meant a huge defeat for Prime Minister Orbán. Horváth, nonetheless, thinks that it in the long run, the European Union will step over Prime Minister Orbán and get what it wants.

Tags: coronavirus, EU, EU funds, Orbán