House of Representatives does not want Hungary to become EU president

It is undesirable for a country that does not respect European values ​​and is subject to an Article 7 procedure to assume the presidency, argue D66, PvdA, GroenLinks, VVD and Volt in parliamentary questions to Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs). These parties together are in the majority.

According to Kati Piri (PvdA), Hungary should be stripped of the presidency, partly because the Orban government is pro-Russian and EU funds have been frozen due to corruption. Orbán makes Hungary “a corrupt kleptocracy”, says Jeroen van Wijngaarden (VVD). “The honor of chairing the EU does not belong to such a country.”

Fundamentals

“Orbán is currently destroying democracy in his country. It shows little interest in European fundamentals. This is precisely why an independent procedure is underway to limit their voting rights in the EU. It is inconceivable that as president they have control over this procedure,” says Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66).

Minister Hoekstra said this week that he felt uncomfortable with a Hungarian presidency. But he sees nothing to postpone the Hungarian presidency for the time being.

An EU president has a lot of influence. A president chooses the topics to focus on during the presidency, leads member state meetings and takes the lead in legislative negotiations with the European Parliament.

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