Hungary to face scrutiny for alleged violations of EU values, Parliament adopts resolution

The material says that the approved resolution is "calling on the European Council and the Member States to take action and to determine whether HU has committed serious and persistent breaches of EU values under Article 7(2) TEU."

According to the MEP, this is a "significant development."

"The progress in this matter since my petition on January 8, 2024, to strip Viktor Orban's voting rights has been remarkable," notes Sarvamaa.

He adds that he gathered less than a week in the European Parliament with 125 signatures in support of his initiated petition.

"In ten days, we had formed a European Parliament position on the matter," he says.

The MEP also points out that the European Parliament "has done its part; now it's up to Member States to follow through."

Question of Hungary's voting rights deprivation

At the summit of EU leaders on December 14-15, 2023, Hungary blocked the decision to allocate 50 billion euros to Ukraine for the years 2024-2027. The issue of assistance to the Ukrainian side will now be reconsidered at the EU summit on February 1.

At the same time, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatens to block it. Budapest demands concessions from the EU in exchange for approving the package.

In addition, in December, the Financial Times reported that EU member states were considering the possibility of depriving Hungary of its voting rights to approve the 50 billion euro aid package to Ukraine for 2024-2027.

Earlier in January, a petition was initiated in the European Parliament to deprive Hungary of its voting rights in the EU Council. It became known in 4 days that the required number of signatures had been collected.

On January 18, MEPs discussed an extraordinary summit scheduled for February 1 and called on EU leaders to deprive Hungary of its voting rights.