EU wants Hungary stripped of voting rights for blocking Ukraine accession, Slovakia backs calls for review of Kiev-junta aid

Max Griera
EURACTIV
Tue, 16 Jan 2024 16:12 UTC

© EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend the second day of an EU Council meeting in Brussels.

Most political groups in the European Parliament want a probe into the European Commission's decision to unfreeze EU funds for Hungary, followed by a lawsuit in the EU's top court and a possible motion of censure, while also urging the Council to strip Hungary's voting rights over its rule of law deficiencies.

The Commission released €10.2 billion of funding for Hungary on 13 December, on the eve of an EU summit on support for Ukraine, in the hope of defusing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's threat to derail the negotiations and block the start of accession talks with Kyiv.

Although the green light had been expected, it quickly sparked outrage, with EU lawmakers accusing the Commission of giving in to Hungary's "blackmail".

Comment: Unsurprisingly hypocritical comments considering the Parliament and the Commission attempt to blackmail and coerce Hungary, and all others, who dare defy their agenda. Except the Eurocrats are often worse, because, repeatedly, the money they threaten to withhold has nothing to do with the issue they're objecting to; such as when they threatened to withhold lockdown funds from Hungary because Budapest objected to the EU's LGBT+ propaganda legislation.

With the agreement of a majority - composed of the socialists (S&D), the Greens/EFA group, the centre-right EPP, liberal Renew, and The Left group - the Parliament is expected to approve a strongly-worded resolution on Thursday (18 January).

Its two key items are a call for the Council to start the process of stripping Hungary's voting rights under Article 7.2 of the EU treaty and for the launch of a parliamentary inquiry to determine the legality of the Commission's decision to unfreeze the Hungarian funds, with a view to starting proceedings before the EU Court of Justice

Article 7.2 stipulates that the Parliament, with the approval of a two-thirds majority, can call on Hungary to answer before the European Council on its breaches of rule of law, after which national EU leaders could decide to strip the country's voting rights.

The Parliament also "instructs its Committee on Legal Affairs to take the necessary steps as soon as possible, in relation to the Commission's decision leading to the unfreezing of €10.2 billion, including the legal service analysis in accordance with Rule 149, with a view to review the legality of the decision... before the Court of Justice", reads the resolution's draft agreement, obtained by Euractiv.

"We are also sending a strong signal to the Commission: If they simply distribute billions of euros in order to evade Hungary's vetoes, they will not get away with it. (...). Because the rule of law does not work in Hungary, the European Parliament is now launching this lawsuit against the Commission," one of the resolution's leading negotiators, Green MEP Daniel Freund, told Euractiv.

A majority of EU lawmakers say the Commission's decision to release the funds was not based on objective improvements in Hungary's judiciary and rule of law, as argued by the EU executive.

Comment: This is what the EU considers 'objective improvement': Poland's new govt announces push to end use of coal power, despite not yet having a viable alternative

A motion of censure on the horizon?

The Parliament hopes to send a warning to the Commission ahead of an EU summit on 2 February and prevent the executive from unfreezing further funds to Hungary in exchange for Orbán's support to further financial aid for Ukraine's defence efforts.

"[Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen allowed herself to be blackmailed by Viktor Orban and released 10 billion taxpayers' money to Hungary despite massive corruption in the country. The European Parliament is not going along with this and will challenge her decision before the European Court of Justice," Renew MEP Moritz Körner told Euractiv.

Comment: Another way to look at it, and which is perhaps more objective, is that von der Leyen is trying to pay off/blackmail Hungary, and Hungary is simply exercising its democratic right to object when it deems a policy to be wrong.

Renew, led by Hungarian MEP Katalin Cseh and Körner, is deciding whether to push for an amendment that would include in the resolution a motion of censure against von der Leyen, triggered if the executive were to unfreeze more EU funds for Hungary, Renew officials confirmed, adding that a final decision will be taken on Tuesday evening.

Renew's attempt to introduce a motion of censure vote could be seen as an attempt by the liberals to destabilise von der Leyen, who belongs to the centre-right European People's Party and may run for a second five-year mandate this year, and improve French Commissioner Thierry Breton's chances to snatch the top job.

So far, the EPP, the biggest group in the Parliament, blocked the motion of censure from the draft agreement, sources briefed on the negotiations told Euractiv.

This should not come as a surprise, as a motion of censure vote would be a serious blow to von der Leyen's political standing, which has been fragile since her staunchly pro-Israel response to the Israel-Hamas conflict caused outrage among Commission staffers and caught EU leaders off-guard.

Comment: Indeed, the establishment can't seem to understand why the proles don't support their Gaza genocide, or, at the very least, let them get away with it.

"The resolution was not weakened by the EPP", EPP MEP Petri Savarmaa told Euractiv, adding that "we have the most decisive resolution ever regarding Hungary... Now we need to bring it to a vote and see what kind of support it gathers."

"We are seriously asking the member states to ensure that the decision-making of the Union is not paralysed. We simply cannot keep kicking the can down the road anymore," he said.

S&D did not respond to a request for comments by the time of publication.

Comment: Associated Press reports:

Slovakia's leader voices support for Hungary's Orbán in EU negotiations on funding for Ukraine

The leaders of Hungary and Slovakia on Tuesday said they agree on the need to rework a European Union plan to provide financial assistance to Ukraine. It's a potential boon to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who last month derailed EU efforts to approve the funding for the war-ravaged country.

Indeed it is; and the US-UK-EU evidently want to add to the Kiev-juntas 500,000 dead troops, with the disabled, pensioners, and even women, now on the front line of the meat grinder: To the last Ukrainian: Kiev begins doomed conscription scheme

Following bilateral talks in Budapest, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said he agrees with Orbán's position that the EU should not finance a planned 50 billion euro ($54 billion) aid package to Kyiv from the bloc's common budget, and echoed Orbán's assertions that the war in Ukraine cannot be resolved through military means.

"We have listened very carefully to the proposals that Prime Minister (Orbán) ... has already put forward in relation to the review of the budget and aid to Ukraine, and I will repeat that we consider them to be rational and sensible," Fico said.

This follows other reasonable comments from Fico: Ukraine proxy war "didn't work, Russia is NOT on its knees, West prevented TWO chances for peace"

Fico's comments come as the EU scrambles to salvage the funding package for Ukraine that Orbán blocked in December, a move that angered many of the bloc's leaders who were aiming to provide Kyiv with a consistent cash flow for the next four years.

Unanimity is required for decisions affecting the EU budget, and Orbán was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders to vote against the funding.

"If we want to help Ukraine, which I think we need to do ... we must do so without damaging the EU budget," Orbán said on Tuesday.

EU leaders are expected to meet again on Feb. 1 to attempt a deal on the financial package, but Orbán's veto power remains a factor.

On Tuesday, Fico said he supports Orbán's recommendation that the funding be separated into four installments that could be reassessed, and potentially blocked, each year.

"I look forward to seeing you soon on Feb. 1 in Brussels, where we will watch with full understanding your legitimate fight for what you started at the last European Council," Fico told Orbán.

A populist whose party won September elections on a pro-Russian and anti-American platform, Fico is seen as a potential ally for Orbán in the latter's longstanding disputes with the EU.

The bloc has withheld billions in funding from Budapest over concerns that Orbán's government has cracked down on judicial independence, media freedom and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

On Tuesday, Fico cited the withheld funds as a justification for Orbán's opposition to EU funding for Ukraine.

"They cannot expect a country from which funds have been withdrawn to give money to another country. That is simply not possible. It is not fair, it is not just," Fico said.

It might be little consolation, but there are a few sane voices in the EU, including this recent condemnation calling out "Butcher Biden" and "Genocidal Germany,":