A left-wing take on Article 7 procedure against Hungary

A left-wing commentator predicts that the EU will not punish Hungary for the violation of basic democratic norms. He accuses the EU leadership of putting their political interests before the defence of core European values.

In a bitter commentary on the Article 7 procedure hearings (see BudaPost September 18), Népszava’s Róbert Friss contends that Prime Minister Orbán ‘is winning the battle’ as the EU is unlikely to punish the Hungarian government either by withholding funds or suspending its voting rights. The left-wing columnist thinks that the EU lacks the tools as well as the willingness to defend democratic values and core EU norms in Hungary. Friss speculates that EC President von der Leyen has been conciliatory towards the Hungarian government in an attempt not to further alienate it and ‘hand it over to Moscow’.

Tags: Article 7, democracy, EU, European Commission, von der Leyen