The European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution condemning the Hungarian government’s “deliberate, sustained and systematic efforts to undermine the fundamental values of the EU.” 345 MEPs voted for it, 104 were against.
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MPs also criticized Orban for vetoing more financial aid for Ukraine last month. The European Parliament called on the EU Council to activate Article 7, which could lead to the loss of Hungary’s voting rights in the European Union.
MEPs stressed that “the EU should not succumb to blackmail.”
However, this punishment mechanism is lengthy and complex, so it is unlikely that it will be used in the near future. At the same time, the resolution increases pressure on Orban ahead of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, where they will discuss the allocation of 50 billion euros to Ukraine over four years.
The resolution expresses concern about Hungary’s backsliding on democracy and calls for an internal investigation into the European Commission’s decision to allocate 10 billion euros to Budapest. In fact, the parliament is asking to activate the second section of the seventh article of the EU Treaty on Hungary.
Budapest has been under the first chapter of this article since 2018, indicating the risk of a serious violation of the fundamental principles and forcing Hungary to regularly explain the situation. The second chapter may determine that Budapest is a systematic offender. This will open the way to punishment – Hungary could be deprived of some rights, for example the right to vote in the EU Council or the right to representation.
The path to such punishment is very long and complicated. It is not a fact that this will happen in the foreseeable future.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.