(ANSA-AFP) - BRUXELLES, 16 NOV - Hungary and Poland blocked approval on Monday of the EU's long-term budget and coronavirus rescue -- a 1.8-trillion-euro package -- and plunged the bloc into political crisis. Warsaw and Budapest oppose tying EU funding to respect for the rule of law and their envoys vetoed any decision to proceed, EU diplomats at the Brussels meeting told AFP. "Hungary has vetoed the budget," Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, arguing that the package must reflect a deal areached in July. "We cannot support the plan in its present form to tie rule of law criteria to budget decisions," he said. EU leaders thought they had resolved dispute over the seven-year EU budget and associated stimulus plan at a marathon four-day-and-night summit in July. They have since also resolved differences with the European Parliament over spending priorities, and the trillion-dollar budget and 750-billion stimulus package is ready for approval. (ANSA-AFP).