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| - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that stalled EU budget talks will reach agreement despite Hungary and Poland's veto over a plan to tie funds to rule of law criteria. "Many types of solutions are possible, it's just a question of political will," Orban said during a public media interview Friday. Acceptable solutions for Hungary and Poland "would be those reached on the basis of legal standpoints rather than the political majority," he said. The EU's 1.8-trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) long-term budget and coronavirus rescue package was vetoed Monday by the two countries, both accused by Brussels of rolling back democratic freedoms. Orban has framed the rule of law conditions for funding as a politically motivated "weapon" tantamount to "blackmailing" anti-migration governments. Implacably opposed to EU schemes to resettle refugees arriving in other parts of the continent, he said Friday that most EU countries are pro-migration and that the EU could force Hungary to take in migrants if a majority decides. "At the centre of all the bla-bla in Brussels is how they can force us to do something we don't want to do," said Orban. "They want to do it in a way that, instead of via unanimity, these questions would be decided with a qualified, two-thirds majority," he said. But "the talks must continue, and in the end we will reach agreement, that's how it normally works," he said. Despite the fact that Hungary receives EU funding estimated at more than 3.0 per cent of its annual output, one of the highest shares of any EU member state, Orban said that even if the EU budget row weren't resolved, planned developments for the next 10 years would still be implemented. "We can take on loans even without Brussels. Hungary's economy, in contrast to 2008, lies on a very solid foundation," Orban said Friday. He said last week that Hungary had issued bonds worth between 800 and 900 billion forints (2.3-2.5 bn euros) denominated in euros. Germany, which holds the EU presidency until December 31, is working furiously behind the scenes to defuse the budget row, with some diplomats saying Orban and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki could be persuaded quietly to accept guarantees of fair treatment. France and the Netherlands have invoked the possibility, seen as implausible by many, of by-passing the log-jam by pushing ahead with an intergovernmental recovery plan, without the holdouts. "The magic of European Union is to succeed in finding solutions, even when you think it's going to be impossible," EU chief Charles Michel said after talks Thursday. pmu/jsk/wai
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