> The European commission has zero tolerance to fraud
LOL!
Deutsche Welle gives the impression billions are involved, with the sub-heading -
-A recent report alleged government officials in Hungary and the Czech Republic misused 59 billion in farming subsidies-
before finally qualifying it with -
-The New York Times found that SOME of the EU’s 59 billion ($65 billion) farm subsidies from its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was being misused by corrupt government officials, notably in Hungary and the Czech Republic-
the only amounts mentioned are:
-A company formed by the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, collected at least $42 million in subsidies last year.-
-In recent years, according to a Times analysis of Hungarian payment data, the largest private recipients of farm subsidies were companies controlled by Mr. Meszaros and Sandor Csanyi, an influential businessman in Budapest.
Last year alone, companies controlled by the two men received a total of $28 million in subsidies.-
NYT is actually more honest up-front, but note the use of “populist” in the headline -
-NYT: The Money Farmers: How Oligarchs and POPULISTS Milk the E.U. for Millions
The European Union spends $65 billion a year subsidizing agriculture. But a chunk of that money emboldens strongmen...
Tomás García Azcárate, a longtime European agriculture official who now trains the Continents policymakers: The European Union has very limited instruments for dealing with gangster member states, he said. Its true on policy, on agriculture, on immigration. Its a real problem.-
however, the entire story is just another beat-up of so-called “populist” governments:
4 Nov: Foreign Policy: Europes Populist Governments Have a Problem: Their Capitals
City-level opposition could be the key to defeating populism in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and beyond.
by Tim Gosling
The rise of populist, nationalist governments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have made these countries, the Visegrad Group, the black sheep of Europe...
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/04/europes-populist-governments-have-a-problem-their-capital-cities-czech-republic-hungary-poland-slovakia/