STRASBOURG MEP Petri Sarvamaa (collective) collected a petition to withdraw voting rights from Hungary for a limited period, and got the signatures of 125 MEPs on paper. That means just under a fifth of 705 MEPs.
However, there is even more will in the Parliament to shut Hungary out of decision-making for a limited period of time. Intervention in Hungary’s actions is ending up in a joint resolution of the Parliament, i.e. a position of the Parliament. Parliament will vote on the matter on Thursday.
– We have seen for years that the current Hungarian government does not have the slightest intention of genuine cooperation with other member countries. Time is running out, Sarvamaa reasons.
According to him, the matter is urgent because Hungary will hold the EU Council presidency for six months in July.
In the resolution, the Parliament asks the Council, i.e. the member states, to initiate a process that would lead to sanctions against Hungary. The Parliament can only request action from the Council, i.e. it cannot itself initiate the abolition of the right to vote.
Behind the resolution are, among other things, the largest groups in the parliament, such as Sarvamaa’s own center-right EPP and the group of Socialists and Democrats. The conservative group ECR and the right-wing populist ID do not support the project.
Finnish teachers Teuvo from Hakkarai except (ps.) signed Sarvamaa’s petition. Among the signatories is also Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ps.). Basic Finnish MEPs belong to the conservative group in the European Parliament.
The situation escalated when Hungary refused to accept the 50 billion euro aid to be paid to Ukraine at the December summit. Now we will find out how to get Hungary involved – or how support can be started without Hungary. The plan is to decide on the support at an extraordinary summit on February 1.
One member state can paralyze decision-making in matters where decisions require unanimity.
Does “11 billion euros when you leave the room” repeat itself?
The MEPs gathered in Strasbourg discussed the situation in Hungary in a plenary session on Wednesday.
At the beginning of the discussion, the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that he believes that a solution to the payment of the subsidy will be found among all 27 member countries.
Due to the violation of the rule of law, EU subsidies have already been frozen from Hungary. In December, the Commission granted Hungary ten billion euros in subsidies, which has been widely criticized in the parliament. The Commission justifies that Hungary has made progress in reforms.
Von der Leyen stated that part of the money could be granted after Hungary passed a law that increases the independence of the judiciary. He emphasized that 20 billion euros are still frozen because there are shortcomings, for example, in the treatment of sexual minorities and asylum seekers.
In many speeches, Hungary was fiercely criticized and the Commission was pressured to take the initiative to take Hungary’s right to vote.
The center-liberal Renew party Guy Verhofstadt feared that the commission would repeat the December model at the February meeting and release subsidies to Hungary in exchange for bending to Ukraine’s funding.
In December, the decision to start Ukraine’s EU membership negotiations was approved when the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the meeting room during the decision.
– 11 billion when you leave the room. Are you going to do this again? Verhofstadt asked von der Leyen.
– If the answer is yes, you will have problems, not only with me and my group, but with the majority of the parliament.
According to him, Orban will only continue his blackmail if concessions are made.
The greens’ meppi Terry Reintke stated that Orban weakens Europe when, for example, China and the United States look at what the EU achieves.
– Time is running out. Ukrainians are dying. They are also fighting for our freedom. At the same time, Putin’s best servant sits at the council table blocking our support and taking away our credibility.
All other countries need to be behind the decision
Despite the positions of the Parliament, there may not be enough support from the member states to isolate Hungary.
Sarvamaa thinks that the member countries lack courage.
– Within the Council, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the situation when one member state holds all the others hostage.
Unanimous support from member states other than the subject of sanctions is required to take away the right to vote. Until now, Poland has stood by Hungary’s side, but the new liberal and pro-EU government could become a frontline defending democracy.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, moved in the EU-critical direction in the elections. Slovakia may also oppose punishing Hungary.
– It’s as if this can has been kicked forward along the road, always solved one thing at a time. At the same time, this situation has steadily worsened over the years. Now it’s getting to be time to decide whether we will stop this development. Are we restoring the Union’s decision-making ability, asks Sarvamaa.
Sarvamaa is not aiming for a new term of office, but will move to the European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg in the summer.
The right to vote has previously been taken away from Austria in the Council in 2000. At that time, the member states were frightened by Jörg Haider the coming to power of a far-right government.