EU had enough of Hungary’s antics, PM Orbán may lose his veto right

PM Viktor Orbán Ukraine EU accession
Photo: FB/Viktor Orbán

Due to recent developments, the European Union has reportedly threatened Hungary more than ever before. Hungary has been vetoing in the EU left and right for a while now. It seems now that the EU just about had enough. Now, the forever question has grown even bigger: what should they do with Orbán’s erratic politics?

Brussels has warned Hungary that it could have its voting rights within the EU taken away if it continues its sabotaging behaviour at the summit on 1 February. Hopefully, if all goes well and Hungary won’t stand in the way again, they will have an agreement on the budget and the EUR 50 billion aid to Ukraine.

Article 7

As Index writes, the most severe political sanction within the EU is Article 7 which, once invoked, suspends the sanctioned country’s voting rights on all EU decisions. This would put the Hungarian politicians at a breaking point. The trust between the two parties is already extremely fragile, but if Article 7 goes through, the damage might be irrepairable.

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What about the US?

Many European politicians are worried about Hungary’s pro-Kremlin politics. Especially with the international political scene changing so fast in the previous months, things only seem to be speeding up. Considering the current political shifts that seem to be going on in the world, Washington struggles to agree to the EU’s financial contributions to Kyiv.

The Pentagon announced this Tuesday that Ukraine’s frontline soldiers are running out of ammunition without the US’s support behind them. Especially now, before the looming re-election of Donald Trump, who seems to favor the Russian side of the war that has been going on for almost two years now. Europe is starting to scramble their resources in aid of Ukraine. Seems like Orbán didn’t choose the right time for his vetoing, since EU politicians are getting tired of his antics.

1 February

Things are looking bad, according to the report made by Politico. In the report, they write that five politicians think it is a real possibility that the EU is ready to take serious steps, abandoning the previous „soft” tactics towards Hungary. All hands will be revealed on 1 February at the summit. According to an EU diplomat, if Viktor Orbán blocks the agreement again, the application of Article 7 will become much more than just a far-away consequence.

Hungary has not been afraid of going against the EU in the past, so things are looking glum in this regard. In December, he was the only one to veto the EUR 50 billion support for Ukraine. Hungary’s attempt to distribute the financing for Ukraine annually was rejected by most national capitals. During the same month, the Prime Minister stated on public radio station Kossuth that the veto of the EUR 50 billion was necessary, considering the interests of Hungarian farmers and that a renegotiation is to be expected around February. We’ll see what goes down at the summit. Until then, we can only hope that Orbán will listen to the warning of the EU.

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