FT: EU countries may deprive Hungary of voting rights to help Kyiv
The European Union (EU) wanted to consider the possibility of depriving Hungary of its voting rights in order to agree on an aid package to Ukraine. This was reported by The Financial Times with reference to European diplomats.
Some senior European officials are considering the possibility of carrying out a so-called penalty procedure under Article 7 of the 2007 Treaty on European Union. It provides for the possibility of suspending a country's voting rights in connection with a violation of European legislation. Another state that is part of the association can deprive an EU member state of its voting rights.
The EU is considering other options for resolving the issue of providing assistance to Ukraine
At the same time, there is currently no consensus in the EU regarding the deprivation of Hungary’s voting rights. Many countries are nervous about using this article, which is the “biggest weapon” against Budapest. Instead, they propose to show Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the “real cost” of the country’s isolation within the EU in order to change his mind about providing aid to Ukraine. What exactly is meant by this, the source of the publication did not clarify.
If this does not work out, the EU has a Plan B. It lies in the fact that 26 EU member countries will conclude an agreement on assistance to Kyiv independently and without the participation of Hungary. However, this will take much longer and will only be a temporary solution to the problem.
But ultimately, Hungary will not be able to stop us from providing financial assistance to Ukraine
According to a senior EU official present at the summit in Brussels, Hungary could create many problems and force the EU to use several different instruments at once.
It is possible that Budapest may receive various types of threats from other EU member states. Associate Professor of the Department of Political Analysis, Faculty of Public Administration, Moscow State University. Lomonosov Alexander Konkov predicted a similar development of events. In his opinion, Hungary acts as the main violator of the unity of the association.
Hungary vetoes aid to Ukraine
EU leaders had to start looking for ways to prevent Orban from influencing Brussels' support for Kiev after the Hungarian prime minister showed his intransigence on this issue.
Related materials:
Thus, after the EU summit in Brussels, Orban vetoed the decision to approve a long-term budget assistance program for Ukraine, the total volume of which is 50 billion euros. As Orban previously explained, the allocation of funds to Ukraine causes more harm to Budapest than negotiations on Kyiv’s membership in the EU. The Hungarian Prime Minister noted that the EU's provision of financial assistance to Kyiv affects real Hungarian interests, since Budapest would have to give up its money.
In addition, during the EU summit, Hungary refrained from participating in the decision to begin negotiations with Ukraine on accession to the EU. Orban explained this decision by saying that Budapest does not want to “take part in this bad decision, so today it has refrained from taking this step.” He also noted that Hungary is in no hurry to prevent the start of membership negotiations, because Budapest will be able to stop the admission process “75 more times.”
Hungary's motive was said to be the desire to unfreeze frozen assets
In the EU, trying to understand Orbán's motives, advanced several basic theories. One of which is Orban’s pro-Russian position, the second and main one is that Budapest is trying to force Brussels to unblock the frozen funds.
On the eve of the summit in Brussels, the European Commission decided to unlocking 10 billion euros from frozen Hungarian funds. However, Hungary was unhappy with the decision and insisted on releasing the full amount of money for Budapest in exchange for agreeing to an updated EU budget, which includes financial assistance to Ukraine. Amount of blocked Hungarian funds amounted to more than 21.7 billion euros.
#Hungary #create #problems #thinking #special #measures #agree #aid #package #Ukraine