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Poland on Wednesday night refused to back a package deal to grant 18 billion euros in European Union aid to Ukraine, as well as two seemingly unrelated but effectively related decisions for Hungary over concerns about a separate plan for a minimum corporate tax rate, they said four diplomats from the EU in front of the European editorial office of "Politico".

All about the topic:

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"There is great disappointment that Poland is jeopardizing aid to Ukraine by blocking the minimum tax," an EU diplomat said, describing the move as "another hostage situation".

The four separate issues — support for Ukraine, Hungary's spending plan for the post-pandemic recovery fund, the decision to freeze 6.3 billion euros in funds for Budapest and tax reform — were part of a package deal to be adopted on Thursday .

An initial Wednesday deadline of 5:00 p.m. was extended to 8:00 p.m. at Poland's request.

When that deadline was also missed, Czech Prime Minister Peter Fiala, whose country holds the Council's rotating presidency, made a last-minute attempt to persuade his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, to back down.

However, Fiala was not successful.

Morawiecki is now expected to take the issue to a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday, diplomats said, although the topic is not officially on the agenda.

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The deadline for acceptance has now been extended to Thursday, without an exact time, diplomats said.

Under the terms of the package, if one of the four items is vetoed, such as Poland's minimum tax rate, all four issues will not be approved.

Poland blocked the minimum tax rate for months before giving the appearance of backing down when it won approval for its recovery plan.

Then it was Hungary's turn to hit the brakes until it lifted its veto on Monday.

But Warsaw expressed reservations at the last minute on Monday at a meeting of EU ambassadors.

"It's like a failed relationship: they keep promising that the next time will be different, but deep down we know we're going to get hurt again and again," said another EU diplomat.

The Polish government did not respond to a request for comment.

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