European Union member states are considering the possibility of depriving Hungary of its voting rights in order to approve an agreement on a €50 billion aid package for Ukraine in 2024-2027. This was reported by the Financial Times.
According to the publication, some officials in Brussels are proposing to apply the penalty procedure under Article 7 of the 2007 European Union Treaty for violating the rule of law, which could lead to the suspension of voting rights. The measure could be blocked by any other member state, but the change of government in Poland means that Hungary no longer has a guaranteed protector.
The Financial Times writes that many countries are nervous about using what is essentially the EU's biggest weapon against a member state.
Instead, officials said, the priority is to persuade Orban by clearly explaining what they called the "full costs" of isolating him. If that fails, the 26 other EU members could agree to an aid deal to help Ukraine individually, although that would take time and offer only a short-term solution.
"Maybe Hungary can create more problems," said a senior EU official attending the summit in Brussels last week. - "Maybe Hungary can force us to use a few different tools. But in the end, Hungary will not be able to prevent us from providing money to Ukraine."
