“In total, [The European Parliament] regrets that the EU’s lack of decisive action has contributed to the collapse of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary and to the transformation of one of its member states into a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy,” the report said. “There is a growing consensus among experts that Hungary is no longer a democracy,” the report added. In their report, members of Parliament listed a number of concerns, including the functioning of the country’s electoral system and judicial independence. They also expressed fears about academic and religious freedoms, as well as the rights of vulnerable groups, including “ethnic minorities, LGBTIQ people, human rights defenders, refugees and migrants”. The motion, which passed by 433 votes to 123 with 28 abstentions, calls on the European Council and the European Commission to “pay more attention to the systemic dismantling of the rule of law” in Hungary. In particular, the European Parliament asks the Commission to withhold Hungary’s Community funds. Some right-wing MEPs criticized the report, saying it was “based on subjective opinions and politically biased statements and reflects vague concerns, value judgments and double standards”. “This text is yet another attempt by federalist European political parties to attack Hungary and its Christian-democratic, conservative government on ideological grounds,” they said in a minority statement attached to the report. Citing corruption risks, the European Commission is expected to recommend later this week the suspension of billions earmarked for Budapest from the bloc’s 1.1 trillion euro ($1.1 trillion) common budget for 2021-2027, according to Reuters. This would be the EU’s first such move under its new financial sanction dubbed “cash for democracy” agreed two years ago precisely in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as well as his allies in Poland, backing down on liberal democratic principles within the coalition. Orban has for years been locked in bitter disputes with the EU, which Hungary joined in 2004, over the rights of migrants, gays and women, as well as the independence of the judiciary, media and academia. The self-proclaimed illiberal crusader denies, however, that Hungary is more corrupt than other nations in the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission has already blocked around €6 billion owed to Budapest from the bloc’s separate Covid stimulus package, citing insufficient safeguards against graft in Hungarian public procurement. Funds worth as much as a tenth of Hungary’s GDP could be at stake if other EU members approve the Commission’s expected recommendation, a prospect that has weighed on the Hungarian forint, central Europe’s worst-performing currency. Budapest has come under pressure in recent weeks to strike a deal with Brussels and unlock funding for Hungary’s troubled economy, and Orban’s government has promised to create a new anti-graft agency. Member states have three months to decide on the commission’s recommendation and could reduce the punishment if they find Budapest’s actions convincing in the meantime. But on Friday, Orban dismissed the European Parliament’s statement as a “boring joke”. “As for the European Parliament’s decision, we think it belongs to the realm of (a) joke. We don’t laugh because it’s a boring joke,” Orban said through a translator after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Reuters reported.
