As Brexit negotiations enter a critical stage, the EU’s eyes may again have been diverted after Hungary and Poland plunged the bloc into yet another crisis. The Visegrád Group allies have vetoed the EU’s €1.8 trillion (£1.6 trillion) budget and recovery package, responding to plans to make cash conditional on adherence to the ‘rule of law’.
The move is likely to exacerbate tensions not just between central and eastern European member states and those in the West, but among Western European member states themselves. Heated debate earlier this year saw ‘coronabonds’ shelved and financial agreement reached only after concessions to the so-called ‘Frugal Four’.
What now for this precarious arrangement, given the fact that fresh lockdowns are undermining any hope of an Autumn economic recovery across the EU? Patience is running low in virtually every European capital.
Be under no illusion, a new Iron Curtain is falling back down the spine of Europe.
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