Mayors of Budapest & Warsaw revolt against Hungarian & Polish govts, ask EU to send money directly to them

The governments of Hungary and Poland have been blasted for derailing the EU budget and Covid-19 recovery fund by the mayors of Budapest and Warsaw, who wrote to Brussels urging it to work directly with regional authorities.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski have proven that they are eager to risk “an EU-wide political crisis” and leave the bloc without a much-needed stimulus just to shield their own “egotistical political interests,” the mayors said in their letter.

Mitigating the effects of the coronavirus pandemic turned out to be less important for the two governments than maintaining the ability to “protect their corrupt interests, attack the rule of law and promote illiberal policies,” Budapest city head Gergely Karacsony and his Warsaw counterpart Rafal Trzaskowski added.

Last week, Hungary and Poland vetoed the adoption of the 2021-2027 EU budget and recovery fund. The pair were dissatisfied with a clause in the draft budget that linked access to funds with respect for the rule of law by member states. Brussels has questioned attempts by the leadership in the two Eastern European nations to undermine the independence of the courts, the media and NGOs.

The mayors of the Hungarian and Polish capitals called upon the EU to forward the funding to them, bypassing the federal governments of their states altogether. The regional authorities are closer to the people and more capable of spending the monies effectively to achieve “a greener, healthier and more resilient future,” they insisted.

Karacsony and Trzaskowski, who are both members of opposition parties, vowed to keep fighting for direct access to EU funds so that their citizens wouldn't have to suffer due to the “irresponsible” actions of their national governments.

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