Difficult conversations when the EU must agree on Hungary

Difficult conversations when the EU must agree on Hungary

Published: Just now

full screen Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at an earlier summit in Brussels. Stock photo. Photo: Johanna Geron/AP/TT

Put hard against hard – or give way a little? The solution is not given when the ambassadors of the EU countries are sitting in yet another extraordinary meeting to discuss a whole series of lockdowns linked to Hungary.

The disputes above all concern various EU grants to Hungary which the European Commission wants to freeze due to insufficient action against corruption and fraud. However, Hungary has countered by saying no to an agreement on a minimum level within the EU for corporate taxation and a joint emergency loan to Ukraine of 18 billion euros for 2023. For the latter, however, there is a backup plan where the remaining 26 EU countries on their own arranges the loan to Ukraine.

Monday night’s meeting is another attempt to reach a solution ahead of the year’s final EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Formally speaking, however, the two necessary decisions about the money for Hungary may be delayed until next Monday and the turn of the year, respectively.

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