As European citizens face a second wave of the pandemic, the governments of Hungary and Poland have vetoed the much needed EU long-term budget as well as the coronavirus recovery fund designed to mitigate the negative economic effects of the pandemic on our societies.
Why? Because the autocratic governing parties of these countries are afraid of coupling the access to EU funds with compliance to basic democratic rules.
If the landmark EU stimulus plan is blocked, several member states will be unable to address the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting their citizens. We can’t accept that!
Hungary and Poland are jeopardising the well-being of millions of Europeans, including Polish and Hungarian citizens who are expecting the recovery funds to be released to cope with collapsing public health services, massive loss of jobs and increasing levels of poverty and inequality brought by the pandemic.
It's time for EU funds to benefit citizens in the member states - rather than governing parties and their friends. We call upon the Hungarian and Polish governments to lift their veto and unblock the EU budget and recovery fund NOW!