The rift between the European Union and its two budget holdouts is getting wider as Poland and Hungary reject calls for dialogue. While Budapest and Warsaw are growing entrenched in their views, the vast majority of the member states are determined not to give in and revisit any parts of a $2.2 trillion spending package threatened with a veto, two EU diplomats familiar with the ongoing discussions said. Both eastern European nations have rejected tying disbursements from the bloc’s budget and virus-recovery fund to members’ efforts to uphold the rule of law. The countries are under formal EU probes over the erosion ... (full story)