Breaking news – After Belgium, Austria supports the suspension of Hungarian voting rights
The Hungarian Government openly attacks the EU at home and everywhere it goes abroad. It is now commonplace that it refuses to reach any kind of consensus, constantly using its veto. More and more countries (with the newest one being Austria) seem to be getting tired of this destructiveness.
A few days ago, the Belgian Foreign Minister, who holds the EU Presidency, said that the Union must be strong and continue the Article 7 procedure against Hungary and, if all the ropes are cut, our country must be deprived of its voting rights in the EU.
Our neighbour, the Austrian government, does not seem to support this kind of ‘politicking’ either. It has sided with the Belgians, and it is also in favour of pursuing proceedings against Hungary.
As reported yesterday, Belgium is fed up with Hungary – while supporting its rotating presidency – and is proposing to the EU that Article 7 should continue to be enforced against Hungary and, if necessary, that voting rights should be suspended. According to Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib, “we have a Europe that is struggling to move forward and unfortunately some states – one state in particular – are increasingly adopting a blocking and vetoing attitude”. ReaHadja Lahbibd details HERE: Belgium seeks to remove Hungary’s veto power in EU decision-making
In response, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said he seemed unwilling to understand the problem of using a permanent veto and was using the war communication template. Brussels wants to suppress the pro-peace forces and remove the last obstacle to war by silencing and excluding Hungary from the decision-making process. Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, interpreted the government’s position in response to this suggestion. However, he did not say why Hungary now regularly uses the veto and does not seek to understand the position of the overwhelming majority. Lately, the Orbán government has been virtually alone in blocking unanimous decision-making.
Austria has also joined the dialogue
It seems that this is not the end of the story, as Austria has also joined the dialogue. According to Politico, Vienna supports Belgium’s call to continue the process of stripping Hungary of its voting rights, in another sign of frustration in Budapest ahead of the start of the six-month EU Council presidency in July.
We expect all 27 members to fully respect the principles on which our common Union is built,
a spokesperson for the Austrian Foreign Ministry told Politico. “This is particularly true for the rotating EU presidency. With this in mind, we support the strict continuation of the Article 7 procedure against Hungary.”
It is important to note that the European Parliament launched the first phase of the Article 7 procedure against Hungary in 2018, but the process has stalled. The next step of this procedure, which is used when a country is deemed to be in breach of the Alliance’s core values, is often referred to as the “nuclear option”, usually just called the “atom bomb” in Hungary, as it provides the most severe political sanction that can be imposed on a member state: the suspension of voting rights on EU decisions.
Read also:
Source: