Brussels to trigger rule of law conditionality mechanism

A pro-government columnist suggests that the European Commission intends to punish Hungary for returning Fidesz to power last Sunday.

On Tuesday, EC president Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament that the Commission will activate the rule of law conditionality process against Hungary shortly. At his press conference on Wednesday, PM Orbán found that decision strange, since his government and the European Commission have already agreed on contentious issues, in his view. The spokesman of the Commission reacted on Thursday, remarking that the EU has specific problems with the system of public procurements in Hungary. Now commissioners have to accept the text of a letter to be sent to Budapest outlining those concerns. The process that may lead to blocking payments to Hungary may take up to 9 months, observers say.

In Magyar Hírlap, Péter G. Fehér is convinced that the European Commission would never have triggered the rule of law conditionality procedure against Hungary had the opposition won the elections on Sunday. He accuses mainstream politicians in Brussels of hypocrisy. While they accuse the Hungarian government of undemocratic tendencies, they themselves cannot accept the outcome of an election where that government scored an indisputable victory, he remarks. By holding back the post-covid Reconstruction and Resilience funds, which amount to 5 percent of Hungary’s GDP, Fehér asserts, Brussels intends to punish the Hungarian electorate for re-electing Fidesz for the fourth time in a row.

Tags: EU, rule of law, sanctions