Slovakia's position regarding the EU budget and the new generation fund is unequivocal and shared across the government and constitutional officials, wrote President Zuzana Čaputová after an interview with Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová.
Slovakia does not buy into defining an alternative to the rule of law with Hungary Read moreJourová informed Čaputová about the ongoing negotiations with Poland and Hungary that have been blocking the long-term EU budget and recovery plan after the coronavirus crisis totaling €1.8 trillion.
Hungary and Poland vetoed an agreement on a seven-year EU budget for 2021-2027 and the €750- billion recovery plan. The reason is that the EU pushed through a new legal mechanism on the interconnection of European funds with observing the rule of law.
The negotiations, however, did not bring any significant progress and several solutions remain up in the air. Čaputová said that it depends on the willingness of both countries to choose the solution that harms other EU countries the least.
“The alliance of V4 countries, in which we are together with the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, is an alliance of four sovereign states,” she said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “We coordinate our attitudes in the fields where we find an agreement. When there is no agreement, we act individually, as it is with this case,” the president noted.
Responsibility has to go hand in hand with the advantages of EU membership, Čaputová added. “Judiciary independence, a plurality of media, the fight against corruption, a working system of brakes and counterweight in the organisation of political power are principles on which the EU stands,” she added.