Report urges EU to punish Hungary over dwindling democracy

A European Parliament draft report has urged the EU to launch action that could suspend Hungary's voting rights in the bloc, due to the threat to democracy and the rule of law allegedly posed by its prime minister, Viktor Orban.

Since taking power in 2010, Mr Orban has changed Hungary’s constitution and electoral system, put loyalists in charge of formerly independent institutions, cranked up pressure on civil society and seen allies take over most major media outlets.

His Fidesz party easily won re-election last Sunday, having vowed to "defend" Hungary and Europe from mostly Muslim migrants, to push back against EU "meddling" and dismantle a supposed network of liberal influence allegedly controlled by philanthropist George Soros.

"The time for issuing warnings has passed," Judith Sargentini said on Thursday as she presented a draft report that called for Hungary to face article 7 procedures, which are regarded as the "nuclear option" in EU affairs because they can lead to voting rights being frozen.

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The Dutch Green MEP said “the Hungarian people can no longer count on the fundamental rights that we take for granted in the rest of Europe”.

“In Europe, we commit ourselves to the shared values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and human rights. Regrettably, Hungarians cannot be certain that they will be given honest and equal treatment by their government,” she added.

The report listed 12 areas of concern in Hungary, ranging from the workings of the constitutional and judicial systems to corruption, freedom of expression and academic freedom, to the rights of refugees, migrants, Roma and Jews.

“I cannot reach any other conclusion than to call for the activation of article 7. We need to stand up for the Hungarian people whose rights have been undermined,” Ms Sargentini concluded.

‘Soros report’

Hungary's foreign minister Peter Szijjarto dismissed what he called "the Soros report". "Just four days passed after the election before a new attack on Hungary was launched in Brussels," he said.

“Despite all the attempts by the Soros network to intervene [in the election], despite the EU or the European Parliament’s attempts to intervene, the Hungarians made a clear decision on their own.”

The report will come up for a vote in June before the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee and in September before the whole parliament, where Fidesz belongs to the largest bloc, the European People’s Party (EPP).

The EPP's members – including Fine Gael – are accused of providing political cover for Mr Orban as he builds an "illiberal democracy" in Hungary.

Even if the European Parliament backed the report's recommendation, the imposition of sanctions against Budapest would require unanimity in the European Council, where Poland and Hungary vow to shield each other from punishment.

Civil society groups and the Soros-funded Central European University (CEU) in Budapest expect continued pressure from Mr Orban, and on Thursday a pro-government news magazine published a list of more than 200 NGO workers, anti-corruption investigators, journalists, CEU staff and others who it described as "mercenaries" of Mr Soros.