On Thursday, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) blamed the European Union’s (EU) inaction for the emergence of a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” in Hungary, proclaiming that it can no longer be considered a full democracy.
In a resolution adopted with 433 votes in favour, 123 against, and 28 abstentions during a plenary session at Strasbourg, the parliament argued that the “deliberate and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government,” led by Prime Minister (PM) Viktor Orbán, has resulted in the further deterioration of core European values like democracy and fundamental rights in the country since 2018.
Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy, say Parliament members. They also call on the EU to withhold recovery funds until the country complies with EU recommendations and court rulings. Find out more: https://t.co/aPpY65YK0n pic.twitter.com/cSZiHok3cq
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) September 15, 2022
The EU initiated the Article 7 process against Hungary in 2018, calling it a risk to European democratic values. If adopted, Budapest could effectively lose its right to vote in the European Council, where major decisions take place.
The Parliament also raised concerns about the constitutional and electoral system, judicial independence, corruption, freedom of expression (including media pluralism), freedom of religion, right to equal treatment (including LGBTQ rights), and minority rights.
The MEPs slammed the Council and the European Commission for being unable to stop Hungary’s democratic backsliding, asserting that identifying a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values did not require the bloc’s unanimity. They said any further delay would “amount to a breach of the principle of the rule of law by the Council itself.”
Don’t know what is worse: that we are breeding an autocracy within the EU… or that so many MEPs, heads of state and the Commission are still allowing it to happen.
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) September 15, 2022
Stop Orbán ! Cut his EU finances and #EUCO power now ! #art7https://t.co/tOnr4FTJsw
“Hungary is not a democracy,” French MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield declared, adding that the “unprecedented” majority that backed the resolution should serve as a ”wake up call” for the Council and Commission.
The MEPs urged the Council and the Commission to “refrain from approving the Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan” until it complies with the recommendations and implements all the relevant judgements of the EU Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). It also demanded them to stop funding the cohesion programmes that lead to misuse of EU funds and breaches of the rule of law.
During a debate on the rule of law breaches in Hungary, EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders told MEPs that the commission also “shares a large number of concerns expressed by the European Parliament.” In this regard, European Commissioner for Budget Johannes Hahn is likely to propose a 70% cut in Hungary’s funds, which amounts to $6 billion; the exact details will be confirmed on Sunday. The Commission has already blocked about $6 billion in COVID-19 recovery funds, citing insufficient anti-graft safeguards.
Hungary is not a functioning democracy anymore! Hungary does not respect the fundamental values that all of us have agreed on to overcome war, despotism and state terror.
— Daniel Freund (@daniel_freund) September 14, 2022
My speech in the European Parliament today 👇 pic.twitter.com/xDSYTtcp9b
Earlier this month, PM Orbán promised to form a new anti-corruption agency in order to gain access to funds to support its weakened economy, with the Hungarian forint becoming the worst performing currency in Central Europe.
Delbos-Corfield told Euronews that the Commission should not be “fooled by pretended reforms,” saying, “The Commission needs to be serious on the real changes we need.”
It's outrageous that HUN left opposition, which has suffered devastating electoral defeat for the 4th time, is using its entire international network to do everything in its power to deprive HU of the EU funding to which 🇭🇺is rightly entitled, stated MEP Kinga Gál. @Europarl_EN pic.twitter.com/EVTnpuy2TG
— FideszEP (@FideszEP) September 15, 2022
In response to the Parliament’s vote on Thursday, Hungarian ruling Fidesz party slammed the EU, saying, “It is unforgivable that while people are suffering from the severe economic effects of war inflation and misguided sanctions, the European Parliament is once again attacking Hungary.”
In a similar vein, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó called it an “insult” to question the country’s “capacity for democracy.” He went on to say that Hungarian voters had “decided in four parliamentary elections in a row what kind of future they want for the country” by electing Orbán. “We resent that some people in Strasbourg and Brussels think that the Hungarian people are not mature enough to decide their own future,” Szijjártó stressed.
‼️Brussels blackmails Hungary for not electing a left-wing government. Doing this while millions of Europeans suffer from unbearable energy prices caused by the sanctions is pure cynicism. Thank you @Jorgebuxade, @vilimsky, and @JPGarraud for making this clear. @Europarl_EN pic.twitter.com/B8rTkZNvpd
— Hidvéghi Balázs (@BalazsHidveghi) September 15, 2022
Along the same lines, Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi called it a “political witch hunt against Hungary,” claiming that the leftist section of the Parliament could not fathom that the Hungarian people had rejected them in favour of the far-right.
MEP Kinga Gál, another Hungarian MEP, remarked that “while a constructive negotiation is going on between the European Commission and the Hungarian government, stigmatisation, incitement, and problem-making are taking place here [in the Parliament].”
Hungary also received the support of a small group of far-right MEPs from Spain, France, Poland, and Italy, who claimed that Budapest was being attacked for “ideological reasons.” “This report is a disappointing piece of work by the European Parliament especially at a time when the unity of the European Union should be more important than ever,” they said, referring to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(2/2) When Brussels introduced the sanctions, this isn't what they promised the people of Europe.
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) September 15, 2022
Though Thursday’s vote will not affect the EU’s decision-making process, it does bring about rising concerns within the EU regarding Budapest’s rampant corruption and close relationship with Russia.
In fact, during her State of the European Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asserted that the EU “must fight for our democracies” and protect members “from the external threats they face, and from the vices that corrode them from within,” referring to corruption without naming Hungary. She also vowed to intensify the fight against corruption, including against “illicit enrichment, trafficking in influence and abuse of power.”
Meanwhile, Hungary will provide the EU with a list of measures to combat corruption next week that will have to be effectively implemented by November. However, German MEP Daniel Freund claimed that it was “a very short timeframe and … to expect that the damage that Orbán has done with [his] constitutional majority over 12 years, can now be repaired in a matter of weeks, or a couple of months, I think is optimistic to put it mildly.”