Central Europe mayors join in direct EU funds plea

Mayors of central European capitals on Wednesday (12 February) laid out their plans for direct access to EU funds, bypassing national governments, to fight climate change and populism.

The leaders of Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw, who banded together in December, are presenting themselves as new allies of EU integration in countries where illiberal and populist governments have locked horns with EU institutions over the bloc's values and rule of law.

The mayors are see...