Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sharply criticised the European Commission’s proposed budget, warning it could lead to the EU’s collapse.
The European Commission's proposed new budget lacks clear strategic foundations and would ruin the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday.
"This budget would ruin the European Union. This budget I believe will not survive even next year, the Commission will either have to withdraw it or the Commission will have to backtrack step by step," Orban said, criticising plans to allocate money to Ukraine and planned changes to farm subsidies.
His comment comes after the European Commission proposed a 2 trillion euro ($2.31 trillion) EU budget for 2028 to 2034 on Wednesday (16 July), with a new emphasis on economic competitiveness and defence and plans to overhaul traditional spending on farming and regional development.
"It is a budget that matches Europe's ambition, that confronts Europe's challenges and that strengthens our independence," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.
She added that, "The budget is larger. It is smarter and it is sharper. It delivers for our citizens and our business, our partners and our future."
The Commission said its proposal amounted to 1.26% of the 27-nation European Union's Gross National Income - a measure of the size of the economy - compared to 1.13% for the current seven-year budget.
But the Commission proposed several ways to raise more funds directly, including a new tax on companies doing business in Europe that have an annual net turnover exceeding 100 million euros in an EU country.
Some EU countries and lawmakers were quick to criticise the proposal.
"The EU is important for our prosperity, but the proposed budget is too high," Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said "globalist bureaucrats" were plotting to "drain Europe’s money into Ukraine" while "our farmers are rising up to defend their future".
"The EU Commission’s budget proposal isn’t just unfair, it’s not even fit to be negotiated," he said on X.
Farmers held a protest in Brussels, with influential European farmers' lobby group COPA-COGECA calling the day European agriculture's "Black Wednesday".
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The global recall of Airbus A320 aircraft has triggered widespread disruption across several major airlines, forcing flight cancellations in the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
U.S. investigators have recovered the black box recorders from the wreckage of a UPS cargo plane that crashed in flames on takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky. At least twelve people died. The crash sent a wall of fire into an industrial corridor and forced the shutdown of the airport.
Pope Leo visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, stepping inside one of the most iconic sites of the Muslim world. He removed his shoes at the entrance in a gesture of respect. He did not appear to pray.
Russian drones and missiles struck several districts of Kyiv early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen. Fires swept through residential blocks as debris rained over the city.
At least 47 people have died and another 21 are reported missing following ten days of heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides across Sri Lanka, local media reported on Thursday (27 November).
Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations on Friday after the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex, killing at least 128 people, injuring 79 and leaving around 200 still missing.
Netflix crashed on Wednesday for about an hour in the U.S. as it launched season five of "Stranger Things", with the service becoming inaccessible to many subscribers within minutes of the episodes going live at 8 p.m. local time.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the Latin American region on Thursday, amid a military buildup by President Donald Trump’s administration that has heightened tensions with Venezuela.
French health experts are warning that the highly pathogenic H5 strain of bird flu, already devastating wild and farm animals, could evolve into a virus capable of human-to-human transmission — potentially sparking a pandemic worse than COVID-19.
The global recall of Airbus A320 aircraft has triggered widespread disruption across several major airlines, forcing flight cancellations in the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Pope Leo visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, stepping inside one of the most iconic sites of the Muslim world. He removed his shoes at the entrance in a gesture of respect. He did not appear to pray.
Russian drones and missiles struck several districts of Kyiv early on Saturday, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen. Fires swept through residential blocks as debris rained over the city.
Shoppers packed malls and downtown streets in Caracas on Black Friday (28 November) as retailers offered discounts despite Venezuela’s prolonged economic crisis. Customers queued in shoe and electronics stores and browsed signs advertising cuts of up to 50%.
The famed Nuremberg Christmas Market opened on Friday (28 November) with its traditional ceremony featuring the Nuremberg Christkind, an angel-like child figure said to deliver Christmas gifts in some European countries.
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