: The E.U. Is Finally Standing Up to Viktor Orbán #WorldNEWS For more than a decade, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has been locked in battle with the European Union over the democratic

The E.U. Is Finally Standing Up to Viktor Orbán #WorldNEWS
For more than a decade, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has been locked in battle with the European Union over the democratic rules that Brussels expects E. U. member states to uphold. His commitment to “illiberal” Christian democracy has long since become a flashpoint. An E. U. report released earlier this month accuses Orbán of transforming Hungary into an “electoral autocracy” in which the prime minister has made deliberate and systematic efforts to undermine E. U. values.
Orbán, a talented populist who has built his public popularity by picking fights with Eurocrats, insists he is merely defending Hungarian traditional values. But he stands accused in the report of attacks on press freedom, the independence of judges and courts, academic freedom, minority rights, and the rights of asylum seekers. None of this is new, but the report dropped at a highly charged moment.
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On September 15, the European Parliament voted by an overwhelmingly majority to approve that report, which not only criticized Hungary for undermining democracy and the rule of law but also the European Commission for failing to force Hungary to change course. Orbán dismissed the report and the vote as a “bad joke. ”
For years, the E. U. has had few good options to force Orbán and his Fidesz party to respect the rules, because so many of its potential punishment measures against offending member-state governments require unanimous support from other EU members, allowing Orbán to rely on support from fellow populists in Poland who can use vetoes to provide him with cover. But Brussels can hold back badly needed cash from the EU budget if it can prove there is credible risk the funds will be stolen by corrupt officials within the country in question.
On September 18, the E. U. fired this shot for the first time in its history.
The European Commission formally recommended that EUR 7. 5 billion in funding for Hungary be held back until its government addresses a long list of specific issues. This isn’t the only money at risk. Unsuccessful E. U. bargaining with Hungary over terms of disbursement of EUR 14. 9 billion in grants and loans as part of a COVID Recovery Fund leave Budapest short of money equaling about 8. 5% of the country’s GDP. That’s a big hit for a small country.
Other member states will vote in November on whether to withhold these funds, and the outcome won’t require unanimity but simply a “qualified majority,” a much lower threshold that leaves Orbán without protection. If the vote is yes, as is widely expected, Budapest will have one month to respond with changes meant to meet E.
mncguru.com

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