Given the outbreak of war mania in Western Europe, it is no longer an academic question as to whether the European Union can and would strip member nations of their voting rights. Under the EU’s article 7, it takes a unanimous vote of all nations, except for the nation so accused, to do so. A similar vote, under Article 2, must first establish that a nation has failed to uphold the EU’s ill-defined “values.” For failing, for example, to uphold “democracy,” a nation could in theory be deprived of the right to vote.
Both Hungary and Slovakia have been so threatened. Yesterday, Hungary’s Prime MInister Viktor Orban met in Slovakia with Prime Minister Robert Fico, and they publicly expressed their solidarity in common cause. Orban stated, as reported by AFP: “Unanimity on foreign policy issues cannot be abandoned, because that would effectively remove the sovereignty of our states.” He stressed that Slovakia and Hungary remained “constructive EU members…. Imagine if unanimity were not required on foreign policy issues ... if some member states were unable to represent their interests, we could be dragged into a war.” Fico, speaking alongside Orban, warned that “abolishing the veto is a step towards the abolition of the European Union.” He further urged the EU, “Don’t take steps that can lead to the destruction of the EU,”’ and called on the EU’s “big players to listen to us.”
