European countries are getting increasingly frustrated with Budapest’s obstructions on Ukraine military aid and Russia sanctions.
Belgium, current holder of the rotating Council of the EU presidency, is taking the extraordinary step of urging EU governments to move ahead with the procedure to deprive Hungary — which takes over the presidency next month — of voting rights.
“We have a Europe that is making difficult headway, with unfortunately some states — one state in particular — increasingly adopting a transactional, blocking and veto attitude,” Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib told POLITICO in an interview.
She advocated advancing the EU’s Article 7 censure procedure against Budapest — an extreme move that can result in a country having its voting rights suspended.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Belgium, current holder of the rotating Council of the EU presidency, is taking the extraordinary step of urging EU governments to move ahead with the procedure to deprive Hungary — which takes over the presidency next month — of voting rights.
She advocated advancing the EU’s Article 7 censure procedure against Budapest — an extreme move that can result in a country having its voting rights suspended.
The next step of that procedure, used when a country is considered at risk of breaching the bloc’s core values, is often called the “nuclear option” because it provides for the most serious political sanctions the bloc can impose on a member country — the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions.
Some EU leaders are also suggesting giving Hungary a weak portfolio in the next European Commission, despite Budapest’s wish to keep the prestigious enlargement job.
Since coming into power two decades ago, Orbán’s government has given the ruling Fidesz party more influence into the judiciary and state media system.
After Brussels dropped a similar case against Poland last month, Hungary is the only EU country facing this type of sanction.
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