Fifty-seven percent of those polled supported a possible veto against the new EU budget if the spending plan is linked to the rule of law, Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna has reported.
Meanwhile, 20 percent voiced the opposite view, according to a study by pollster United Surveys commissioned by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna and private radio broadcaster RMF FM.
A Polish deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday that Poland would not agree to a new mechanism that would link access to EU funds with respect for the rule of law.
“This is a red line that must not be crossed if the financial framework for the coming years is to be agreed,” said Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, referring to the European Union's 2021-2027 budget.
At a meeting of ambassadors from EU governments in Brussels on Monday, Poland and Hungary refused to give the green light to the EU’s next budget and its COVID recovery programme.
The move is not yet a final veto by Warsaw for the bloc’s budget, which must be approved unanimously by the EU’s 27 member states.
Earlier that day, the ambassadors by a majority of votes approved a mechanism to make the pay-out of funds from Brussels conditional on member states’ adherence to the rule of law.
Warsaw and Budapest have denied accusations by Brussels of violating democratic principles and undermining the independence of their courts.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last week that his country could not accept a link between access to EU funds and respect for the rule of law because the mechanism was based on “arbitrary and politically motivated criteria.”
He argued that such a mechanism “could lead to sanctioning the application of double standards and different treatment of individual EU member states.”
(gs/pk)
Source: dziennik.pl