The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, adds that Portugal is aligned with Hungary and Poland so that respect for the rule of law is no longer a prerequisite for the Member States of the European Union (EU) to have access to “ European bazooka.
In an interview with “Público”, the Polish government official said that Portugal was “very critical”, in the preparatory meetings of the European Council (whose minutes are not disclosed) in relation to the rule of law safeguard mechanism. Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Croatia are also said to have expressed doubts and criticized the initiative to make European funds conditional on the rule of law.
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensures, however, that respect for the rule of law “has always been a red line” for the government of António Costa and denies that Portugal has abandoned that position. He says, however, that “the Government’s position was always ready to find a solution that would allow a global agreement to be reached in which all the member states would review each other, respecting the balance of consensus – always difficult in a Union of 27”.
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