European Union votes to discipline Hungary’s Orban
Bloc to launch action against Hungary for ‘undermining its values’
THE EU has voted to launch action against the Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban for allegedly undermining the bloc’s democratic values and rule of law.
Hungary called the vote fraudulent and vowed to challenge it.
The lawmakers voted 448-197 in favour of a report recommending the launch of a so-called Article 7 procedure, which could lead to the suspension of Hungary’s European Union voting rights.
It is the first time in EU history that the European Parliament had initiated and approved such a motion, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass and was approved by 69.4pc of the lawmakers.
The parliament’s vote means the other EU states must now look at what to do with Hungary.
The most severe punishment under the Article 7 procedure is stripping the country of its voting rights in the EU, however, that is highly unlikely to happen as the rest of the EU needs unanimity and Poland’s nationalist and anti-immigration government is expected to block any tough action against Mr Orban.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, echoing Mr Orban’s long-time position, called the result “petty revenge” against Hungary for its tough anti-migration policies. He also claimed that the vote involved “massive fraud” since abstentions weren’t counted into the final tally, which made it easier to reach the needed majority.
There were 48 abstentions, so the 448 in favour exceeded the two-thirds needed only because it was based on 645 votes. If the abstentions were counted into the final tally, there would have been a total 693 votes, so the 448 in favour wouldn’t have reached two-thirds.
Mr Szijjarto said Hungary was considering legal options to appeal the result because of the way the vote was tallied.
But Judith Sargentini, who presented the report prepared by the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, welcomed the outcome.
“Viktor Orban’s government has been leading the charge against European values by silencing independent media, replacing critical judges, and putting academia on a leash,” Ms Sargentini said. “The Hungarian people deserve better. They deserve freedom of speech, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice and equality, all of which are enshrined in the European treaties.
“This is a historic result for Hungarian citizens and for European citizens everywhere, that the European Parliament has voted by a large majority to stand up for the values we all hold dear,” Ms Sargentini said.
The move saw some members of the European People’s Party bloc – of which Mr Orban’s Fidesz movement is a member – vote against their ally in Budapest.
Even EPP leader Mandred Weber, who earlier was supportive of Mr Orban and is seeking to become the European Commission president next year, said he had voted for triggering Article 7. “I have always been in favour of building bridges and I want to continue to do so, but yesterday [Tuesday] I didn’t see any readiness from the Hungarian PM to make a move towards his EU partners and address our concerns,” Mr Manfred tweeted.
Mr Orban has for years deflected much of the international condemnation of Hungary’s electoral system, media freedoms, independence of the judiciary, mistreatment of asylum-seekers and refugees, and limits on the functioning of NGOs.
Mr Orban has insisted that all of the criticism against his government is based on Hungary’s tough anti-immigration policies, which include fences built in 2015 on Hungary’s southern borders with Serbian and Croatia to divert the flow of migrants.
Mr Orban has also expressed his desire to remain within the EPP, which he said was “deeply divided” on the issue of migration.