The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Council and member states to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent violations of EU values.
Reuters writes about it.
The resolution was adopted with 345 votes in favor, another 104 deputies voted against, and 29 abstained.
The European Parliament has called on the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed "serious and persistent violations of EU values" under the Article 7 procedure. Since 2018, Budapest has been under the first section of this article, which indicates the risk of a serious violation of fundamental principles and forces Hungary to regularly explain the situation. The second section may determine that Budapest is a systematic violator. This will open the way to punishment — Hungary can be deprived of some rights, for example, the right to vote in the EU Council or the right to representation. The resolution also expresses concern about Hungaryʼs retreat from democracy and calls for an internal investigation into the European Commissionʼs decision to allocate €10 billion to Budapest.
Deputies also condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbanʼs veto on the provision of financial aid to Ukraine from the European Union.
The resolution is not binding — the path to such punishment is long and difficult. But it increases the political pressure on Viktor Orban before the summit of EU leaders in Brussels, which will take place on February 1, where they will again try to agree on new aid to Ukraine.
- 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.