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Sweden and Finland want to tie EU farm subsidies to rule of law
The call comes after Brussels blocked billions in funds to Poland and Hungary due to concerns over judicial reforms and democratic backsliding.
Access to the EU budget should be tied to countries respecting the rule of law and fundamental rights without exception, ministers from Sweden and Finland have said.
The call comes after Brussels blocked billions in funds to Poland and Hungary due to concerns over judicial reforms and democratic backsliding.
“All member states must adhere to our common values, notably rule of law, democracy, and fundamental rights,” Sweden’s Jessica Rosencrantz and Finland’s Joakim Strand, both ministers for European affairs, wrote in a joint letter to the European Commission ahead of a ministerial meeting due Tuesday (24 September).
“All member states have of their own free will signed up to these values. However, unfortunately, reality has shown the need for an active rule of law policy,” they added.
Contentiously, they say the overhaul should also cover billions in subsidies given out each year under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which are jealously protected by farmers, especially in big producers like France, Italy and Spain.
The CAP allocates €264 billion for the 2023-2027 period, including €189bn in direct income support and €66bn for development of impoverished rural areas, but without the oversight afforded to other EU spending.
Access to other EU funding programmes such as cohesion funding is subject to meeting common “enabling conditions”, such as a member state respecting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, without which funds can be frozen or suspended.
After a controversial judicial reform in Poland, those provisions were previously used to paralyse €76.5 billion in EU funds, an impasse which was solved earlier this year. In Hungary, a series of legal breaches immobilised almost €22 billion under the same Common Provisions Regulation, half of which still remains frozen.
Now Rosencrantz and Strand argue this system should be further expanded as a “general feature in all areas of the EU budget.”
Their letter also calls on the Commission to make “full use” of a conditionality mechanism which can freeze cash in cases where the bloc’s financial integrity is at risk, and which has so far been used just once, to deal with concerns over corruption in Hungary.
“Instead of listening to calls to weaken conditionality for administrative reasons, rule of law conditionality should be made stronger. Our taxpayers need to trust that the EU’s common funds are used appropriately and responsibly,” the ministers wrote.
Their call comes as the Commission is reportedly preparing to take action against Slovakia in reaction to legislative changes brought in by Prime Minister Robert Fico, including the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office that deals with corruption-related crimes.
In political guidelines for her second term published in July, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to build a “closer link” between EU funds and respect for the rule of law.
The latest edition of the EU’s report on the rule of law, published later in July, showed that Hungary and Slovakia had made little to no progress on the previous year’s recommendations.
Von der Leyen also pledged radical overhaul of the EU budget, with programmes adapted to country circumstances and dependent on reforms.
new video loaded: W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
transcript
transcript
W.H.O. Chief Visits Ebola-Struck Region: ‘It’s Time to Move Fast’
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, told The New York Times on a flight to the Democratic Republic of Congo that swift international support was necessary to contain the Ebola virus, which is spreading rapidly there.
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“Of course there are different scenarios, but it’s in our hands. We move fast, we will catch up. If we don’t, it will be a very serious problem. So it’s time to really move fast.” A dire warning from the World Health Organization chief as we approach Ituri, the province at the center of Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola outbreak. More than 1,000 suspected Ebola cases and over 200 suspected deaths have been reported here. With no vaccines and no treatment for the virus species fueling the outbreak, containment is where immediate efforts should focus, health officials say. It’s not easy. Testing capacity is still very low. Protective supplies are short. Both the facilities for isolation and the region’s overall health care infrastructure are insufficient. “We cannot tell them what the problem is, Ebola is one but there are many problems and we have to listen to them.” It’s not the first Ebola outbreak for Congo, and as a glimmer of hope, officials say at least one health care worker was discharged earlier this week after recovering. But international commitments to fund their response aren’t enough. Only one-third of the needed funds have been delivered, the W.H.O. chief says. “Do you think the world is moving fast enough right now?” “It’s starting to understand now, but I still don’t think it’s enough.”
By Bethlehem Feleke, Michael Anthony Adams and Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
May 30, 2026
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Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a military cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that further solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia, according to reports.
The deal, finalized Wednesday at an international security forum in Russia, followed a meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob.
The Taliban Defense Ministry announced on X that Yaqoob had traveled to Russia to attend the conference.
Yaqoob is the Taliban’s former military chief and the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar.
AL QAEDA REMAINS MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST GROUP 24 YEARS AFTER 9/11, EXPERT WARNS
Russia and the Taliban government in Afghanistan have signed a new military-technical cooperation pact, cementing an alliance that solidifies Moscow’s influence in Central Asia. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
Omar had formed a close alliance with Osama bin Laden and provided a safe haven from which al Qaeda planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As of Thursday, neither Russia nor the Afghan side had shared the further details of the new military agreement.
“Afghanistan and Russia have long and historical relations. In this direction, we want to move further. We have expanded bilateral relations,” Yaqoob said at the meeting.
The pact follows statements from a senior Russian security official who noted that Moscow has established a “full-fledged partnership” with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban and is encouraging other countries in the region to expand cooperation with Kabul, Reuters reported.
The Taliban had regained power in August 2021, after overthrowing the U.S.-backed Afghan government run by President Ashraf Ghani.
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization.
FORMER AFGHAN TRANSLATOR WARNS OF STARVATION, HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: ‘BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED IN 2001’
In 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the possibility of dropping Russia’s classification of the Taliban as a terrorist organization. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/AP, File)
In 2024, he called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” and Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
“After several years of vacillation, Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan,” Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iranian foreign and domestic policies, Islamism and Russia’s policy in the Middle East, said in a report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“It’s more of a symbolic gesture than something driven by trade or economic considerations,” Smagin added, describing how when Taliban militants entered the Afghan capital in August 2021, “Russia was already deemed eligible for special treatment.”
“Its diplomatic mission was immediately provided with security, and Russian Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov became the first foreign diplomat to meet with the new rulers of Afghanistan,” he explained.
On Wednesday, Shoigu also called for Western countries to unfreeze sanctioned Afghan assets.
AFGHANISTAN’S ONLY WOMEN-LED RADIO STATION TO RESUME OPERATIONS AFTER TALIBAN LIFTS SUSPENSION
Russia has become the first country in the world to officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (Photo by Elke Scholiers / Getty Images)
“We are convinced that Western countries should unfreeze blocked Afghan assets, fully recognize their responsibility for their 20-year presence in Afghanistan, and bear the burden of the country’s post-conflict reconstruction,” Shoigu said, according to reports.
“Moscow needs to take steps that will restore its image as an influential power that holds the initiative, and recognition of the Taliban regime serves precisely that purpose,” Smagin added.
“The status of the first country to establish official diplomatic relations with the Taliban government should ensure Russia has a leading role in discussions of regional security issues.”
The recognition of the Taliban, he said, was an attempt by Russia to “prove itself as a leading global force that is not afraid to break established norms and set precedents for other countries.”
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Moscow continues to emphasize the need to work directly with Kabul as it faces severe, ongoing security threats from various rival Islamist militant groups operating throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, Reuters said.
Shoigu also said Moscow was building a “pragmatic dialogue” with the Taliban that included security, trade, culture and humanitarian support, the outlet reported May 14.
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