Belgian minister: Hungary does not comply, so Orbán may lose his voting right

Belgium is leading the Council of the European Union until 30 June. The country’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, said that Hungary does not carry out the needed reforms, so Brussels cannot end its Article 7 procedure against the country. That may strip Orbán of his voting right.

According to Világgazdaság, Hadja Lahbib said the Council of the European Union would discuss the Article 7 procedure against Hungary for the seventh time. However, Hungary still has issues with the rule of law, the rights of the minorities and the independence of the judiciary system, the Belgian minister believes.

She cited Poland’s example of how such a procedure can end quickly.

Vera Jourová, the EU’s commissioner for values and transparency, said the Article 7 procedure monitors media and academic freedom, the freedom of association, and the Orbán cabinet’s decree-based governance in Hungary.

The procedure against Hungary following the EU’s suspension clause (Article 7) may result in Orbán’s losing his voting right in the EU Council, which would be unprecedented, Világgazdaság wrote.

Hungarian minister: EU using Article 7 as tool of political pressure

The European Union has been using the Article 7 procedure as a way to bend Hungary to the bloc’s mainstream position on key issues, János Boka, the European affairs minister, said in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

But hopefully, now that the EU elections are over, debates on the rule of law will be more objective and constructive, Boka told journalists before a meeting of EU affairs ministers at which the Article 7 procedure against Hungary is on the agenda.

He said it was expected that “voices that linked the Article 7 procedure to a certain negotiation position will fall silent”, adding that whereas the procedure itself as a political process was unlikely to change — and would be used to put Hungary under pressure regarding certain political issues — “strong rhetoric and the conflict-seeking” would ease.

Boka said Hungary’s EU presidency starting next week would lead strategic discussions on policy areas that were key for the next institutional cycle.

The democracy protection package is on the agenda at today’s Luxembourg council meeting, he noted, adding that ministers will hold a policy debate on the proposal for establishing harmonised requirements on transparency of interest representation carried out on behalf of third countries.

“Hungary agrees … that malign interference in the electoral process of the European Union is undesirable. The Hungarian presidency will take this dossier further,” he said.

Read also:

• PM Orbán called Manfred Weber hungarophobic
• After Belgium, Austria supports the suspension of Hungarian voting rights – Read more HERE

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