European Union institutions gear up for a fight over Orbán's rule of law record, funds for Hungary
The European Union's institutions are gearing up for a fight over Hungary and a controversial transfer of 10 billion euros or nearly $11 billion in funds to Budapest
BRUSSELS — The European Union's institutions are gearing up for a fight over Hungary and a contentious transfer of 10 billion euros (nearly $11 billion) in funds to Budapest.
The European Parliament decided to assess Thursday whether to take the bloc's executive branch, the European Commission, to court over allegations that it gave into blackmail from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to get his approval to start membership talks with Ukraine.
The European Parliament made the decision in a 345-104 vote and tasked its legal department to prepare the groundwork for a possible challenge at the EU's highest court. It wants to see whether the European Commission took all measures “to protect the EU’s financial interests” in its dealings with Orbán. They said that Hungary didn't meet the rule of law requirements to get the money.
The vote followed a bruising debate in the plenary during which legislators of major center-right and center-left groups all criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for making sure the money was approved just before Orbán unexpectedly and crucially abstained from the Ukraine vote at a summit in December.
The funds were only supposed to be released if Hungary had shown enough effort to force through some rule of law reforms on judicial independence and political interference, and during Wednesday's plenary, von der Leyen said that the country had pushed through measures to earn the release of funds.
She said the European Commission had no option but to approve the funds and strongly denied the two issues were linked.
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