The trip, which runs through Sept. 17, is designed to let Costa hear out each government's demands and identify their "red lines" ahead of formal negotiations over the 2028-2034 budget. The Poland stop was reported by Polish Radio's Brussels correspondent, citing unofficial information.
Costa's itinerary began in Bratislava with talks alongside Slovakia's prime minister, before a same-day trip to Estonia for a meeting with that country's premier. Lithuania's president and Latvia's prime minister are next on the schedule, in Vilnius and Riga respectively, followed by a meeting with the Czech prime minister in Prague on Thursday.
At stake is a proposed EUR 2 trillion budget the European Commission put forward last July. Poland stands to gain the most under the current draft, with a record allocation of more than EUR 123 billion.
That figure has drawn resistance from net-payer countries — those that put more money into the EU budget than they take out — which are pushing for deep cuts. Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden lead that camp, sometimes referred to as the "misers". Opposing them is a bloc of more than a dozen countries, Poland among them, defending continued high spending on agriculture and regional development.
Negotiators are aiming to strike a deal by the end of this year or early next year. Ireland, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, is due to release its own budget proposal ahead of an October summit, with a dedicated budget summit expected in late November.
The timeline is shaped in part by France's presidential election next spring. Officials want a deal locked in before campaigning heats up there, wary that a far-right win could disrupt the negotiations altogether.
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio