Poland has rallied to defend Hungary as the European Parliament approved a resolution that the Hungarian Government is unfit to take its turn to chair the European Council. Both countries oppose undue interference from Brussels over internal reforms to their judiciary, and Hungary remains the only EU country which explicitly supports a peace deal in the Ukraine.
The European Parliament’s resolution, which was approved 442 votes to 114, with 33 abstentions, questioned how Hungary could hold the presidency „in view of incompliance with EU law and the values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union as well as the principle of sincere cooperation”. The vote does not bind the European Council’s decision, however, and without their intervention, Hungary is still scheduled to hold the rotating presidency of the bloc between July and December 2024 as a matter of procedural law.
The EU has frozen billions from Budapest (€5.8bn in free grants and €9.6bn in cheap loans), until Budapest’s nationalist government implements reforms to improve judicial independence and tackle corruption.
On Tuesday, the European Commission and U.S. State Department voiced concern about a new Polish law that could effectively ban individuals deemed to have acted under Russian influence from holding public office. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief political aide, Balazs Orban, said Hungary was being „blackmailed by Brussels because of its antiwar position”.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has claimed a resolution adopted by the European Parliament calling for the cancellation of Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council breaks EU treaty law.
„I believe that this is just a 'hoot’ from the European Parliament, because this decision is a clear violation of European rules in their most important form, treaty rules. Treaties that determine what the EU is,” he said.
The EU has earlier triggered Article 7 against Poland and Hungary due to concerns over rule-of-law issues. This mechanism aims to address threats to EU values, emphasizing the bloc’s commitment to upholding democratic principles among its member states.
