Some in the European Parliament are demanding that Hungary be punished for the “outrageous” behavior of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, by taking away Hungary’s right to vote. Politico reports today that 93 European Parliament members (about 13% of the EU Parliament) published a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, urging them to launch Article 7 proceedings against Hungary, which holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU.
Their accusation is that Orbán caused “significant damage by exploiting and abusing the role of the [EU] Council Presidency,” which Hungary assumed on July 1, by embarking on a “peace mission” to Ukraine, Russia, China, and the U.S. Despite Orbán’s explicit statements to the contrary, the signatories claimed that “Orbán deliberately left the impression that he was acting on behalf of the entire European Union”—and their assertion was “clearly evidenced” by the fact that senior EU officials had made clear that Orbán, on his peace mission, did not represent the bloc “in any form.” That is, that both Orbán and EU officials stated explicitly that his peace mission was unofficial is taken as proof that Orbán “deliberately” communicated the opposite.
