Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is prepared to negotiate Brussels’ proposal on disbursement of European Union funding, which was made public on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister said this in response to a journalist’s question as he arrived for the inaugural meeting of the new Fidesz parliamentary group in Budapest on Thursday.

Asked about European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s announcement on Wednesday that a positive determination on the maintenance of the rule of law in a Member State would be a precondition for such a state’s receipt of EU funding, Mr. Orbán replied, "We are prepared to negotiate on this."

With regard to the possibility of Hungary becoming a member of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Mr. Orbán said that the Hungarian Constitution treats the institution of the Public Prosecutor’s Office as an issue covered by national sovereignty.

In response to a question about whether talks with the leaders of the European People's Party (EPP) in Brussels on Wednesday made reference to the possibility of Fidesz leaving the family of parties, the Prime Minister said that the opposite had been the case: discussion had centred on how Fidesz could participate in the campaign for the European Parliament elections to enable the EPP to win. "I offered our help," he said.

Asked whether the continued operation of Central European University in Hungary might be a precondition for smooth, trouble-free cooperation with the EPP, he replied that no one may set Hungary any preconditions on any issues.

(MTI)