Bloomberg: EU wants to find a way to bypass Hungaryʼs veto. What option is there now?

The European Union wants to find a way to bypass Hungaryʼs veto and make decisions faster on foreign policy. About a dozen countries have explored legal options that would allow decisions to be made by qualified majority rather than unanimity.

This is reported by Bloomberg, which saw a document that was handed over to member states ahead of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on August 30 in Copenhagen.

The document lists legal avenues that would allow the European Council to approve areas where decisions would be taken by majority vote. It also states that various "safeguards" for countries will remain, and that the principle of consensus will continue to be the basis of the EUʼs work.

Former Italian Prime Minister and President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi proposed a wider application of the qualified majority principle in his 2024 report on the future of the European economy. He was also supported by the current ECB President Christine Lagarde.

Moving to such a mechanism would allow the EU to act more quickly and effectively. It would also make it impossible for one country to block a decision that the majority supports.

Hungary is now systematically opposing decisions related to Ukraine, from funding to EU accession negotiations. For example, on Friday, August 29, Hungary did not sign a statement condemning the Russian strike on Ukraine on August 28, which killed 25 people.

The head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas publicly criticized Budapest on the same day for blocking a €6.6 billion fund from which member states were supposed to compensate for the costs of arms they purchase for Ukraine.

She emphasized that after the unblocking, these funds could be spent on the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine under a new program coordinated by NATO. According to Kallas, Hungary rejected all compromise options offered by the EU.

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