Costa criticizes EU for ‘dragging out’ cases against Hungary and Poland

This Thursday, the Prime Minister criticized the European Union for “delaying” and not taking further action against Hungary and Poland initiated by the President of Portugal for a possible violation of the rule of law.

This position was stated by António Costa at the end of the parliamentary debate at the meeting of the European Council, which will take place on the 29th and 30th in Brussels, after a question from Chega MP Diogo Pacheco de Amorim.

Diogo Pacheco de Amorim asked the chief executive whether Portugal would support the recommendation of the European Parliament, approved on 1 June, to the European Commission and the European Council that Hungary cannot take over the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe. European Union in the second half of 2024.

“The question that Viktor Orban must have asked him during the famous Sokol trip: will the Portuguese government in the European Council support this recommendation of the European Parliament or not?” the MP from Chega asked.

In the final part of his response, António Costa stated: “What should not be done is what has been done so far, namely to keep stalling and not to complete the processes that were initiated precisely during the last Portuguese presidency.” in the first half of 2021.

According to the Prime Minister, Portugal’s understanding of the application of the Lisbon Treaty to countries that question the rule of law, “as in the case of Poland or Hungary, has long been established and stabilized.”

“The first concern of those who defend the rule of law is the application of the rules of the treaty, which are very clear: in accordance with the provisions of article seven, when there are indications that a country is in breach of any of the fundamental obligations of the European Union. namely, respect for the rule of law, an investigation should be launched in accordance with the rules,” he said.

Then, according to António Costa, “on the basis of objective data and depending on this investigation, the European Union can deduce the appropriate consequences and apply the appropriate sanctions – and the maximum sanction is the deprivation of the right to vote.”

The Prime Minister then cited the widespread opinion, which understands that the application of the seventh article does not solve anything. He also pointed out that, for example, Poland must prevent the application of sanctions against Hungary, and Hungary, in turn, can prevent the application of sanctions against Poland.

However, from the Prime Minister’s point of view, a simple vote on Article 7 “does not cease to be politically significant.”

“Voting on the issue of imposing sanctions against Hungary, which was voted on 26 [Estados-membros]which was approved by 25 people and blocked by one, is politically very relevant,” he justified.