Orban opposing EU

Orban opposing EU

He opposes the planned rule of law mechanism, which would sanction the violation of the basic values of the EU, Deutsche Welle writes.

This has been discussed in the European Union for months. Finally, a compromise followed, based on the initiative of Germany: it is a so-called rule of law mechanism by which the EU can financially sanction member states if they violate the constitutional norms and basic values of the Union.

The mechanism should be adopted together with the new EU budget and the Coronavirus Reconstruction Fund. Most EU countries have agreed on that these days.

Hungary and Poland, which led the EU to start a debate on the rule of law mechanism at all, vehemently opposed it, from the very beginning.

Therefore, contrary to the original plans, the mechanism is significantly weakened: in order for the EU Commission to impose sanctions on a country, the approval of a qualified majority of fifteen member states with a total of at least 65% of the EU population is required. This is not a minor obstacle. That's the way it is now.

But even this compromise goes too far for Viktor Orban, so he said that Hungary will veto the new EU budget because of that.

In a letter to EU Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the current German presidency of the EU Council, Orbán wrote that Hungary "could not reach unanimity" on the EU budget package.

Orban criticized the planned rule of law mechanism as "vaguely defined", thus offering the possibility of political abuse.

If Orban vetoes it, then the EU would fall into a new serious crisis - in the midst of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the consequences of which cannot yet be predicted.

For now, it is not clear whether the Brussels and Berlin diplomats are looking for a compromise with Orban.

In any case - without Hungary, there is no EU budget package. Most EU countries can only decide on a special Coronavirus Reconstruction Fund.

Ruling by decrees

However, Orban and his government are currently showing very clearly that they are not ready to compromise and that they generally do not want to make compromises regarding the anti-democratic transformation of Hungary.

On Tuesday (November 10th), the Hungarian parliament voted - just like in the spring - to give Orban and his government special powers due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this time it was limited to ninety days, which is why the majority of the opposition agreed.

During that period, Orban can rule by decree. In the spring, he used that authority for many things that had nothing to do with the fight against the pandemic, but were directed against the opposition or to favor business people close to him.

Shortly after the vote, his government presented a plan for another amendment to Hungary's constitution - the ninth in nine years.

At the same time, great excitement in the public was caused by the planned homophobic amendment to the Constitution, i.e. to the article on marriage and family.

The next parliamentary elections in Hungary will be held in 2022. In order to have the right to run with the party list, the parties would, among other things, in the future have to nominate individual candidates in 50 instead of 27 constituencies as was the case before. This would make even clearer what independent Hungarian election experts have long criticized: although elections in Orban's Hungary are still free, the preconditions for holding them are becoming increasingly unfair.