Poland says it's not backing down ahead of EU budget summit

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish government officials insisted on Friday that they are sticking to their tough negotiating position ahead of a key European Union summit next week that should finalize the bloc's next seven-year budget and a major pandemic recovery package.

Poland and Hungary have threatened to veto the 1.8 trillion euros ($2.1 trillion) budget because other EU countries have insisted on a new mechanism that would link funding to respecting democratic standards.

Both Poland and Hungary have conservative governments that have been at odds over rule-of-law standards with other members of the 27-member union for years.

A deputy prime minister, Jaroslaw Gowin, was in Brussels on Thursday, and according to some reports suggested during a news conference there that Poland was willing to compromise, words that some understood as Poland softening its position.

Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said Friday that Gowin was misunderstood, and that Warsaw's position has not softened.

Jablonski told The Associated Press that Poland's position remains as it has been from the beginning, which is that “we are ready to talk, we are ready to come to a compromise, but that there are some red lines” that Poland would not abandon.

“I think maybe he (Gowin) wasn’t precise enough with what he was saying but our position has not changed at all,” Jablonski said.

Government spokesman Piotr Mueller also tweeted that “Poland maintains its position in its entirety with regard to the regulation which determines the spending of EU funds.”

Support has grown within the 27-member bloc to find a way to put pressure on the governments of Poland and Hungary, which other countries accuse of violating fundamental democratic standards. Both countries insist they are unfairly...