120 EU MEPs petition to strip Hungary of voting rights

More than 120 MEPs have called for Hungary to be stripped of its voting rights in the European Council.

The country is accused of being an “authoritarian one-party state” that violates EU “values” and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of being a “man-child” who is “undermining” the EU from within.

Hungary’s national conservative policies under the leadership of Viktor Orbán have long angered EU powers, and the Hungarian leader has repeatedly been accused of being “totalitarian” and “far-right” after refusing to let the EU decide the country’s migration policy.

Now, a large number of MEPs want to punish Hungary for its policies and strip it of its voting rights in the European Council.

– I’m doing this because I’ve come to the conclusion that the EU can’t stand being nagged and nagged, year after year, Finnish MEP Petri Sarvamaa (Saml), who is behind the petition, told Swedish Yle.

Sarvamaa does not belong to the left wing, but to the European Conservatives and Christian Democrats (EPP), and believes that Hungary is violating “EU values” in several ways.

“The last straw”

They refer to Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, which states that in certain cases other EU countries have the right to deprive an individual member state of its voting rights in the Council, which would prevent Orbán from vetoing future votes and decisions.

For example, Hungary recently refused to approve another aid package for Ukraine – a decision that angered Sarvamaa and many other leaders.

– That was probably the last straw … The system is broken, he says, calling Hungary an “authoritarian one-party state that dictates the marching order in the Council”.

“Undermining man-baby”

Abir Al-Sahlani of the Swedish Center Party is also very angry, accusing Orbán of being a “man-baby” who is undermining the EU.

– If we have decided together that we will be a union of democracies, then man-babies like Viktor Orbán cannot come and undermine the whole order, she complains.

In 2018, the country’s political opponents tried to bring about just such a process, without success, as it requires a unanimous vote in the Council. The European Council consists of the president and the 27 heads of state or government of the EU member states.