The European Parliament will vote to deprive Hungary of the right to vote in the Council of the EU

The majority of the members of the European Parliament agreed to consider the draft resolution on Hungary already on January 18. In the document, the deputies call on the Council of the EU to start the process of depriving Hungary of the right to vote, as well as to conduct an investigation into the legality of the European Commissionʼs decision to unfreeze €10 billion for Hungary.

Euractiv writes about it.

Most of the members of the European Parliament believe that the unfreezing of funds did not take place on the basis of objective improvements of the Hungarian judicial system and the rule of law, but in order to make concessions to Hungary. On the eve of the unfreezing of funds, the issue of starting negotiations on Ukraineʼs accession to the bloc was considered.

According to the publication, the final draft of the resolution may include a provision to announce a vote of no confidence in the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, if the EU executive body unfreezes further funds for Hungary.

"We are sending a strong message to the European Commission: if they just hand out billions of euros to avoid Hungaryʼs veto, they will not get away with it," MEP Daniel Freund, one of the leading negotiators of the resolution, told reporters.

The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has already stated that Slovakia "will not allow Hungaryʼs rights to be limited in the European Union" and added that the countriesʼ interests "almost completely" coincide.

• On October 3, 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting the European Commissionʼs proposals to revise the multi-year EU budget, which provides for the creation of a special Ukrainian fund in the amount of €50 billion. However, Hungary was the only country that opposed this initiative. In order to convince Orban to approve the provision of €50 billion in aid to Ukraine, the EU will hold a special summit. The President of the European Council noted that the date of the special EU summit has not yet been confirmed, but it is known that it will take place at the end of January — beginning of February.