As a result of Hungary's odious domestic and destructive foreign policy, the EU may abolish the right of an individual EU country to veto. At least, this is increasingly being discussed in Brussels and Berlin. Thus, German Chancellor O. Scholz is convinced that the right of veto, which allows one state to block the decision of the entire EU, should be abolished when it comes to EU foreign and security policy, as well as sanctions. O. Scholz acknowledged that the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine aggravated the issue of unity within the EU and has criticized Hungary for the “selfish blockade” of joint decisions. “We simply cannot afford to continue to maintain national vetoes, for example on foreign policy, if we want to be heard in a world where major geopolitical players compete,” the German chancellor emphasized in a column for the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
Other EU politicians are also discussing possible changes to the main agreement between EU members to exclude from it the principle of decision-making by consensus of all countries. The question of changing the main EU agreement was raised after the EU failed to approve the sixth package of sanctions against Russia for a long time because of Hungary's positions. As a result, the European Parliament called for the conference on the EU reforming. Now, when the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine threatens to spread to the entire European continent, more and more EU countries support the idea of decision-making not by consensus (which gives individual countries to use the right of veto), but by a majority vote.
At the same time, the conflict between the EU and Hungary over the attitude towards the Russian neo-empire did not arise today, but already quite a long time ago. Prime Minister V. Orban, who has been in power for 18 years (with a break), consistently implements an ultranationalist policy. Thanks to him, Hungary is known to everyone as a “mafia state” with total corruption, completely controlled media, a well-established propaganda machine and informal militaristic organizations. The country is dominated by Hungarian chauvinism, anti-Semitism, persecution of Roma/Gypsies, harsh anti-immigrant sentiment, hatred of people of color, and total rejection of the LGBTQ community members.
Not so long ago, Hungary threatened to block the EU budget process by applying a veto on the budget of 2021-2027, and the economy restoration fund after a pandemic (it was about a package of € 1.8 trillion), due to the fact that the main EU financial document contained a new item about the establishment of direct dependence between the access of countries to the EU money and adherence to the rule of law within these countries. Brussels (and then, and now) has raised an official claims to Hungary, due to a violation of the principles of independence of courts, mass media and non-governmental organizations, as well as the general erosion of democracy.
Thus, the history of differences between the liberal Europe and Hungary, building an authoritarian society, lasts long, and the war of Putin Russia against democratic Ukraine only exacerbated this issue. It's time to deprive V. Orban and his “Fidesz” chauvinistic party of the right of veto towards the EU Foreign Policy!
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