Hungary could be stripped of EU voting rights – Financial Times

Hungary may be deprived of voting rights in the EU/Getty Images

EU member states are considering stripping Hungary of its voting rights to approve an agreement to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros in 2024–2027.

According According to the publication, some officials in Brussels are proposing to apply to Hungary the punishment procedure under Article 7 of the 2007 Treaty on the European Union for violating the rule of law. This could lead to the termination of voting rights.

Many countries became nervous

The publication noted that the move could be blocked by any other EU member state, but the change of government in Poland means that Hungary no longer has a guaranteed defender. But many countries are nervous about using what is the EU's biggest weapon against a member state.

The priority is to convince Orban, officials say. If this fails, the 26 other EU members could negotiate a deal to help Ukraine each individually, although this would take time and offer only a short-term solution.

Perhaps Hungary could cause more problems. Perhaps Hungary can force us to use several different instruments. But in the end, Hungary will not be able to stop us from giving money to Ukraine, a senior EU official said.

Lithuania has invited Hungary to leave the bloc

Recall that the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the European Union, Arnoldas Pranckevicius, said on Facebook that Hungary should leave the EU if it is not ready to maintain solidarity and mutual trust with other members of the bloc. He also wished Budapest never to know what war is.

However, this message was subsequently deleted.