At the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, the EU heads of state and government managed to convince Poland to put aside its reservations against the global minimum tax and to give the nod to the EU agreement package, which, in addition to the 18 billion euros in financial aid intended for Ukraine, includes the non-reimbursable Hungarian aid it also includes the approval of the recovery plan and the development resources due to our country. Balázs Orbán, the prime minister's political director, confirmed that the government expects that the relevant contracts will be signed before the end of the year in accordance with the agreement. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán represented our country at the summit in Brussels.

Poland yielded to the pressure to withdraw its veto against the EU agreement package, which, in addition to the Hungarian recovery plan and the development resources due to our country, also included 18 billion euros in financial support for Ukraine and the introduction of the global minimum corporate tax (from the latter, our country was already exempted to fight it out, that is, it does not have to raise taxes, because the Hungarian business tax is included in the global minimum tax - ed.).

Before the start of the EU summit on Thursday, several media outlets in Brussels reported that although an agreement in principle was reached on all four cases at the meeting of the EU member states' ambassadors accredited to the EU (COREPER) on Monday, Poland indicated on Wednesday evening that it still had reservations about the global minimum tax. , thus not agreeing to the adoption of the four-component agreement. However, Brussels' Politico and Reuters already wrote last night:

although Warsaw wanted to achieve at the EU summit that the agreement covering the four cases would continue to be handled separately, other EU leaders did not agree, so Poland relented.

Balázs Orbán, the prime minister's political director, told reporters in Brussels that Hungary is sticking to the agreement, which is in line with the goals that the Hungarian government formulated at the beginning of the negotiations.

Brussels should not put pressure on the member states, but should be open to suggestions. This also applies to Poland's concerns

– emphasized the politician, adding: Hungary expects that, in accordance with the agreement, the relevant contracts will be signed before the end of the year.

Balázs Orbán stated that Hungary does not think it is right for the European Union to go into debt in relation to the 18 billion euro operating support intended for Ukraine. He said that in the end, a compromise solution was reached, that the assistance to Ukraine would be done using the already paid EU funds, which were not used for other purposes. This corresponds to the Hungarian position, he emphasized.

The minister responsible for territorial development and the use of EU funds, Tibor Navracsics, said in his press conference on Tuesday evening: what is happening now, in the middle of December - on the part of the council and the committee - is the confirmation of the previous ones, we can sign the necessary agreements within days, and from January we will continue the cooperation. The minister also added,

trusts that no further conditions will be forthcoming from the European Commission.

According to the executive decision approving Hungary's recovery plan, our country is therefore entitled to non-refundable support of 5.8 billion euros, i.e. nearly 2,400 billion forints, from the recovery fund (70 percent of this will support renewable energy, while 30 percent will support the digital transition - ed. ). In addition, Brussels has already approved approximately HUF 4,000 billion in agricultural subsidies from the cohesion budget, and HUF 9-10 billion will now be available as part of the operational programs.

Source and full article: Magyar Nemzet

Featured image: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltán Fischer