EU planning to stop Hungary from assuming Council presidency: report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Spiked
2 Jun 2023 16:06

As the presidency is due to be handed to Hungary in the second half of 2024, the EU is attempting to prevent it from happening since the European Parliament has been committed to cutting off the country and its prime minister, Viktor Orban.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the parliament in Budapest, Hungary, on March 27, 2023. (AP)

The presidency of the European Council rotates every six months, which allows the holder, a different EU member every time, a certain degree of power to influence the EU’s policy priorities.

As the presidency is due to be handed to Hungary in the second half of 2024, the EU is attempting to prevent it from happening since the European Parliament has been committed to cutting off the country and its prime minister, Viktor Orban.

MEPs drew a resolution last month calling into question Hungary's ability to manage a successful presidency, which was just passed by the parliament this week, however, it is not legally binding since the Parliament carries no jurisdiction over the appointment of the Council’s presidency.

The resolution and its pertaining discussion in Brussels mark a significant escalation in the EU’s long-running culture war against Hungary.

Organizers of the resolution claim that Hungary violated the rule of law, thus losing credibility.

French Green MEP and one of the resolution authors, Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, confessed that "official texts from the treaties are not very talkative about what we can or cannot do. Even experts that I consulted are not very clear on what can be done."

"It will be for us to invent now what we can do about this presidency".

Another author of the resolution, Sophie in ’t Veld, and a known anti-Hungarian critic claimed that the Parliament is "not entirely powerless" and that "it's about time we start to play hardball".

With that being said, the European Commission has often used economic blackmail to interfere in Hungarian domestic affairs.

"I have doubts about the extent to which Hungary will be able to lead a successful council presidency", Germany’s Europe minister, Anna Lührmann, expressed this week.

The German government has recently exercised a disproportionate influence over EU affairs, proving a powerful ally to anti-Hungarian members.

Hungary has been staunchly opposed to the European Union's policies against Russia since the onset of the Ukraine war, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban refusing to impose sanctions the way the rest of the bloc has, in addition to refusing various other anti-Russian measures.

The pro-EU parties worry that the protest resolution will succeed, as according to one report, "European parliamentarians are wary that Hungary could use the six-month mandate to promote policies that go against EU values at a sensitive moment".

The plot is aimed at preventing Hungary from having leverage to promote its own values, such as its attachment to national sovereignty and tradition - and populism - with its opponents fearing it could set an example for other European dissident voices and parties to follow.