This Wednesday, members of the European Parliament demanded answers from the European Commission regarding Hungary’s violations of the rule of law and criticized what they see as the European Council’s failure to confront a country that is moving in the opposite direction.
The debate with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen included stabilizing support for Ukraine, a review of the multiannual financial framework and the competitiveness of the European Union (EU).
But for MEPs, Hungary is the root of all problems, and the EU treaty’s sanctions clause must be applied if a country has violated the rule of law.
According to Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (PPE, the political family of the SDP and CDS-PP), the December European Council “failed when it came to money” and was unable to take a decision on “the problem with Viktor Orbán.” and Hungary.”
“It has been a success for us as the European Parliament to introduce a mechanism to strengthen respect for the rule of law. […]we want an answer on Article 7. Please respond to the parliament’s demand,” the German MEP asked.
Article 7, introduced into the Treaty of European Union in 1997, aims to impose sanctions if a member state is proven to have violated the rule of law and failed to correct that weakness.
From the Social Democrats (political group S&D, PS), the Portuguese Pedro Marques advocated that the Commission and the Council should “show strength” to overcome the “Hungarian blockade” within a multi-year financial framework and therefore support Ukraine. .
“Europeans are suffering, and populists are rubbing their hands, they know that their discontent will grow, turning suffering into hatred. […]We can’t do more, how to help Ukraine, as you said, President [von der Leyen], less. Let’s fight like parliament!” added Pedro Marquez.
The Socialist MEP believes that the EU is “succumbing to Orban’s blackmail.”
In a similar vein, Terry Reintke, co-leader of the Green Party, questioned the “image of the European Union to outsiders.”
“We’ve been together through hard times […], we should now be considered one of the main actors in the world. But we are not, we are considered disunited and, however, very weak. And this is specifically because of one person. The man we allowed to do whatever he wanted, whom we allowed to blackmail and ridicule the EU: Viktor Orban. It attacks minorities, destroys freedom of the press, the independence of the judiciary, and weakens the EU. Now they are looking not only at Ukraine, but also at China and the United States. And all so that he can do what Russia wants and fill his pockets. And the member states allowed this to happen,” the MEP criticized.
“This is a joke,” he reasoned.
There has been criticism from virtually across the political spectrum of what the European Parliament almost unanimously sees as a giveaway to blackmail by Viktor Orbán, who has been criticizing EU support for Ukraine since February 2022, and who has increased the tone of criticism in recent months, going so far as to say that Ukraine will lose the war and that the strategy initiated by the EU has failed.
Orban was also the only European leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
MEPs want the Commission to discuss the implementation of Article 7, which could strip Hungary of its voting rights if the rule of law is violated. From the parliamentarians’ point of view, Budapest provided more than enough evidence of disrespect for the rule of law, so they called on the Commission and Council to move forward with this restrictive measure.