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The European Commission has launched disciplinary proceedings against Hungary, which could lead to the freezing of funds of the European bloc due to violations of democratic norms by Budapest.
The move comes two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban won the parliamentary elections by a wide margin.
Orban’s victory came despite the fact that the EU has criticized him for years for the public procurement system, conflicts of interest, migration policies, the independence of the judiciary and restrictions on media freedom.
The European Commission said on April 5 that it would use the new rule of law mechanism, which has never been used, and said the impetus for the decision was to prevent the misuse of European Union funds.
“We have been very clear that this is corruption,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a plenary session of the European Parliament.
“We will now send a letter of formal notice in order to launch the conditionality mechanism,” she added.
This new mechanism is set to empower the EU to cut off funding to countries that do not follow the core rules of the European bloc. The 27 member states agreed on this mechanism at the end of 2020, despite the reluctance of Hungary and Poland.
The mechanism has been backed by wealthy EU states that have sought greater oversight in order to ensure that money does not help governments that undermine democracy.
The Hungarian government said the decision to use this mechanism was wrong.
Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, called on the European Commission not to “punish Hungarian voters for expressing an opinion that does not suit Brussels”.
He said the “basic rules of democracy” should be accepted by the EC and called for the European bloc to return to dialogue.
Hungary and Poland, both of which consistently receive billions of euros in EU funding, have sent the creation of the new mechanism to the main European court. But the European Court of Justice in February rejected the two states’ request.
In order for the mechanism to take effect, the 15 EU states representing 65 per cent of the European bloc’s population must agree to punish Hungary, and Budapest will have plenty of opportunity to appeal the process.
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