REVIEW - Tensions Soar Over Coronavirus Stimulus Plans At European Summit

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2020) While the European heads of state were supposed to wrap up their special summit to define a plan to relaunch the European economy by urgently injecting very large sums of money into it by Saturday lunchtime, on Sunday afternoon they were still in session, with very high tensions caused between indebted southern states and the "frugal four" countries of Denmark, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands about the grants or loans to member states.�

The summit, which kicked off on Friday, also saw the Central European "new" member states, from Hungary to Poland and the Czech republic, clash with the commission. The European Commission is violently attacking Poland and Hungary for their assumed "lack of democracy" in their reform of the justice system and the public media under President Andrzej Duda in Poland and for the closure of the borders to illegal migrants by Victor Orban in Hungary.

Viktor Orban of Hungary is thus at the same time fighting the ideas of the commission and the ideas of the frugal four, which would reduce the funds allocated to Central Europe. Orban reportedly declared that he is "ready to negotiate for the whole of next week with Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, if need be." To show his determination, Rutte said, when arriving in Brussels for the meeting, that he had taken the biography of Chopin to read during the summit, because there was nothing much to negotiate.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has the result of the summit in her hands: either, as Germany has always done previously, she sides with the "frugal four" and only agrees to give loans to the countries of the south, the worst-hit by the COVID pandemic, but whose economies are highly indebted and threatening the very existence of the eurozone, or she accepts, as she has hinted she would, to give a large part of the money reserved by the European Commission as free gifts to these southern countries, rather than loans.

The money will be raised by the European Commission, enabling Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, to distribute loans, and maybe grants too, to the countries that have suffered badly from the coronavirus pandemic.

Angela Merkel believes, it seems, that the European market must be saved, so that Spaniards and Italians continue to buy German cars and other products as the German economy depends upon the good economic health of its partners.

"We will see if Germany wants to keep a unified Europe or not. The frugal four do not have the qualified majority to change anything, unless Germany joins them. In that case the decision on funds to Italy will be in the hands of Angela. Everything can happen, but if Germany joins them, the possibility of a major break up in EU is very high, with Italy, Spain, Greece and a large part of the East countries. Everything is in the hands of Angela!" Italy's Pietro Fiocchi, a member of the EU parliament from the Fratelli d'Italia party, told Sputnik on Sunday morning.

Davide d'Antoni, spokesperson for the Italian M5S party, which is in power in Rome, communicated to Sputnik the position just defined by his party, supporting Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in the Brussels negotiations.

Fabio Castaldo, vice president of the European Parliament, who is also from M5S, told Sputnik that he fully supports Conte, "who, together with other European leaders, is opposing to a new governance system that would openly conflict with the European Treaties."

"I can only share the genuinely European approach of those who correctly defend the prerogatives of the Commission and the central role of the Parliament. This institutional balance must not be altered in any way.

Who, like Rutte and the leaders of the 'frugal' countries, tries to empty the former of its competences and marginalize the latter, alters the balance in the Union and tries to manipulate its functioning, away from a pro-European spirit. It is unacceptable that the Dutch Prime Minister Rutte is paralyzing, for internal national visibility purposes, the decisive and energetic response needed to counter this crisis. Is this the Europe that the younger generations would like to fight for? No, it is rather a gift to the far right who would like to dismantle it," he said.

Even in Germany, Angela Merkel and the very weakened ruling coalition face strong opposition to her "free spending" policy.

"Merkel must support the 'Frugal Four' with their position on the Corona aid package. The rule of unanimity must absolutely not be abandoned," Beatrix von Storch, deputy chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, told Sputnik.

Earlier, in a press release of the AfD, Beatrix von Storch declared that "with the gigantic EU corona aid package, economic and financial reason can only be seen in the governments of Austria, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, which also clearly represent the legitimate interests of their citizens vis-a-vis France and the southern EU countries."

She went on to slam Merkel's supposed "senseless waste of EU money" at the expense of German taxpayers.

"Right now, in view of the resistance of the 'Frugal Four,' it is becoming clear that the principle of unanimity in favor of majority decisions in the EU must never be abandoned. On the contrary: as the AfD, we call for the strengthening of the nation states in the EU," the statement said.

REACTIONS THIS AFTERNOON, SUNDAY JULY 19TH

Viktor Orban did not mince words when addressing the press at 4.30 pm.

"The mood is pessimistic, or even worse than that. The word is not enough. We are ready to remain here for a week; we don't want to go home without a solution for Europe. We are not in the eurozone, but if the eurozone suffers, we will suffer. Even football is not as important as reaching a deal! The ratio inside the package is the center of the conflict. The Netherlands wants a mechanism to control the spending of the money. Hungary is on the side of the Italians, they need the money to stabilize their economy. Hungary is not treated correctly [by the EU]. We are humiliated as compared to Portugal or Greece with comparable economic levels," he said.

The Luxembourg prime minister, Xavier Bettel, expressed himself at 3 pm, saying to the press that he is in favor of more strict spending and siding with those who accuse Hungary and Poland of breaching "EU values."

"It is necessary to clarify the amounts of the budget and of the aid that corresponds to the expectations and needs to respond to this crisis. It is a moment of solidarity for all because if countries collapse, it can have very important repercussions for others. Net contributors to the budget don't want to give a blank check and want a right to look into the spending and a chance to say no, it's not for this allotment. Of course, a country cannot stop all the commitments that we make together. But we can also say stop together. It is also sad to have to remember in 2020 that the EU is also about rights and values. We cannot accept that the backbone of this Union's values be questioned by some. Europe is not a grocery store where you choose what you want," he said.

Will the heads of state reach an agreement on Sunday? The fact that they stayed so late, until Sunday evening, makes it clear that they want to reach some sort of agreement.