Strasbourg (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Members of the European Parliament insisted Hungary’s EU voting rights be deprived after its Prime Minister’s travels to Russia and China.
In a letter, 63 MEPs asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola, expressing that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “has already generated significant damage by manipulating and abusing the role of the Council Presidency.”
What Prompted MEPs to Challenge Hungary’s EU Role?
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump last week and earlier journeyed to Ukraine, then Russia to engage President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Beijing to assemble with Chinese President Xi Jinping, on a self-styled “peace mission” to conclude the war in Ukraine. Hungary has assumed the rotating EU presidency this month and is liable for organizing conferences of EU countries – collectively comprehended as the “council” of the EU – until Dec. 31.
The letter was penned by lawmakers from multiple political groups in the EU assembly, including the centre-right European People’s Party – the EU Parliament‘s largest faction – plus the socialists, liberals, European Conservatives and Reformists, and Greens. The legislators have no formal ability to deprive Hungary of its voting rights but desire to add political pressure on Brussels to take more stringent action towards Budapest.
How Are MEPs Reacting to Orban’s Russia and China Trips?
The lawmakers expressed Orban had deliberately indicated he was acting on behalf of the entire EU, despite not having the power to do this. “Prime Minister Orban has already caused significant harm by exploiting and abusing the role of the Council Presidency,” stated the letter, which was posted on social media platform X. “This requires real actions, such as stopping Hungary’s voting rights in the Council, since practice has shown that mere verbal denunciations of this situation have no effect,” the letter read.
Spokespeople for Hungary’s representation to the EU did not directly respond to requests for comment on the letter.
The European Commission stated on Monday it would stop sending Commissioners to informal gatherings organized by the Hungarian EU presidency, devaluing its participation to instead send civil servants. Hungary’s government reacted by criticizing the European Commission for “cherry-picking” the institutions and nations it chooses to cooperate with.
