EU Parliament votes to punish Hungary

A left-wing commentator rejoices over the overwhelming vote in favour of the Sargentini report, while his pro-government counterpart suggests that over half of the European People’s Party (EPP) MEPs were harming their own cause by supporting the resolution.

Népszava’s Róbert Friss calls the vote a milestone in Europe’s future , although it will not entail immediate and tangible consequences. Nevertheless, the EPP has finally realised, he explains, that the populist wave which the Hungarian Prime Minister intends to ride is a threat to the democratic community of the European Union. Friss believes that the European Parliament has also sent a message to the Hungarian voters who ‘sooner or later will have to choose between Orbán and Europe’.

In Magyar Hírlap, on the other hand, Sándor Faggyas rules out the possibility of Hungary losing her voting rights in the Union as a result of the procedure that has been triggered by the majority of MEPs. The real issue at stake was how many EPP MEPs would join the left-wingers and the liberals in condemning Hungary. Over half of them did, (115 in favour, 58 against the resolution, with 27 abstentions) which Faggyas interprets as signalling a deep crisis within the People’s Party. As he sees it, its leaders succumbed to left-liberal pressure, and failed to realise the harm they are doing to their own chances at the forthcoming European elections.

Tags: Article 7, EU, People's Party