The European Commission decided to withhold the aid funds allocated to Poland and Hungary last year: an budget of 2,000 billion – in the form of common debt – had been voted to revive the economies.
The reason given for this restraint is that Poland and Hungary have rejected the “fundamental values of the European Union” in terms of the rule of law and non-discrimination. Concretely, it is a sanction of their management of abortion, LGBT issues, and certain legal reforms.
Last year, Hungary passed a law banning the dissemination of transgender and gay propaganda to children. In recent years, nearly 100 municipalities in Poland have adopted resolutions defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In addition, the Polish Supreme Court banned abortion for eugenic reasons.
It should be remembered that the sum in question is not a trifle: the total amounts to 45 billion euros.
Thus, in the midst of a humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, while the economies of all European countries – weakened by the management of Covid-19 – are suffering the consequences of the conflict, Poland and Hungary having respectively received two million and five hundred thousand refugees, still have not received the amount voted by the EU.
But there is no question of giving in on the “right” to abortion and the gender cause.
Poland and Hungary have already challenged the authority to withhold these funds in the EU Court of Justice, but both countries were dismissed in February. The General Court said that “the European Union must be able to defend its values.”
In March, the European Parliament urged the European Commission to formulate a resolution calling on the EU Parliament and Council to permanently withhold EU funds allocated to Poland and Hungary until these countries respond to all requirements.
Neither Poland nor Hungary should expect the European Commission to rush to meet the needs created by the Ukrainian crisis, even if Poland becomes the focus of Western political leaders because of its proximity to Ukraine. It is unlikely that the Commission will give up its coercive measures.
This is a blindness brought to a kind of pinnacle: the crime of abortion and the passions of ignominy have become unsurpassable references of the “West,” and one must be ready to do anything to defend them. A space that has such “values” is doomed to decay and disappearance.
While the humanitarian crisis linked to the war in Ukraine has caused a migration crisis for which Poland and Hungary are the first countries to bear the financial consequences, the European Union (EU) is still refusing to pay the aid voted to revive the economy after the Covid-19 health crisis.