EU Parliament to discuss stripping Hungary of voting rights this week
The European Parliament will consider the deprivation of Hungary's voting rights this week (Photo: flickr by eu2017ee)
Members of Parliament have approved the text of a resolution project on Hungary, which includes a call to strip the country of its voting rights in the EU Council. The document will be considered this week, reports Euractiv.
The majority of Members of the European Parliament have agreed to consider a resolution on Hungary on Thursday, January 18.
The document calls on the EU Council to initiate the process of depriving Hungary of its voting rights and to investigate the legality of the European Commission's decision to unfreeze 10 billion euros for Hungary in December 2023.
"We are also sending a strong signal to the Commission: If they simply distribute billions of euros in order to evade Hungary's vetoes, they will not get away with it," commented Daniel Freund, a Member of the European Parliament from the Greens, who is one of the leading participants in the resolution negotiations.
Most Members of the European Parliament believe that the funds were unfrozen not based on objective improvements in Hungary's judicial system and the rule of law.
Instead, the European Commission made this decision to appease Hungary before the European Council summit, where accession negotiations with Ukraine were discussed.
According to the material, the final resolution may also include a vote of no confidence in the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, if the agency continues to unfreeze funds for Hungary.
Background
On January 9, MEP Petri Sarvamaa initiated the collection of signatures for a petition to deprive Hungary of its voting rights in the EU Council.
Four days later, it was announced that the required number of signatures had been collected.
At the same time, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, assured that he did not support any restrictions on Hungary's rights.
