EU member states are considering more seriously than ever the possibility of using their main sanction against Hungary – the removal of voting rights under Article 7 of the EU treaty, The Guardian reports.
The idea is at an early stage, but insiders believe it will never happen, as the removal of voting rights requires unanimity from the remaining 26 members.
Under the previous government, Poland held the life-saving veto, but that card is now believed to be in the hands of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. The European Parliament launched the Article 7 procedure in 2018, but it has been delayed by member states’ indecision.
Now there are glimmers of change.
László Andor, Hungary’s EU Commissioner from 2010 to 2014, believes the situation has changed since the Orbán government first committed “very serious violations” of judicial independence in 2010-11.
“There is much more emotion now. Why?” Because Orban is obstructing issues that most European Union countries consider vital,” he said, referring to Ukraine.
Some believe the price will come if Hungary tries to veto the expansion of sanctions against Russia – a wide-ranging set of measures aimed at curbing the war economy, including freezing 210 billion euros of Russian central bank assets held in the bloc.