Left-wing MEPs have called on Brussels to revoke Hungary’s veto power as its Prime Minister Viktor Orbán refused to join the bloc line on the Ukraine war during the ongoing special European Council Summit.
Leading the charge was German Green MEP Daniel Freund, a longtime Orbán critic, who has demanded the European Union invoke Article 7 to punish Hungary for its refusal to back a joint declaration on Ukraine.
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Article 7 allows Brussels to suspend a member state’s EU voting rights if it is deemed to be violating the bloc’s values.
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Another left-wing MEP, Daniel Boeselager, founder of the pan-European and EU-Federalist movement Volt, urged EU leaders to take action against Hungary.
“There is a democratic tool to remove Orban‘s voting rights. We need enhanced cooperation on defence,” he said on March 2.
“Wake up, European leaders. Time is running through your hands. Unite,” he added.
These comments followed Orban’s letter to European Council President Antonio Costa in which he told Costa that Hungary had strategic differences with the bloc over Ukraine.
“It has become evident that Hungary has strategic differences in our approaches to Ukraine that cannot be bridged by drafting or communication,” the Hungarian PM wrote on March 1.
He asked the EU to align itself with the US stance on conflict resolution.
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Slovakia has joined Hungary in refusing to sign the EU’s joint declaration on Ukraine, with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico challenging Brussels’ approach to the conflict.
It requires unanimity of the other members, Hungary was protected by PiS in Poland (who are also corrupt authoritarians) until they were voted out, there was then a short window of a couple of months where the EU squibbed their chance, then Slovakia replaced their chad Prez with Fico who is also a corrupt authoritarian and the opportunity was lost.
What they can do is get all the preparatory stuff done and wait to see if Slovakia replace Fico, or (very unlikely but not impossible) the challenger to Orban manages to win. If neither happens then giving Fico a bigger bribe than Putin does is the last resort.
Don’t take Meloni for granted.