Belgian FM calls for excluding Hungary from EU decision-making processes

Belgium, the current holder of the rotating Council of the EU presidency, is taking the extraordinary step of urging EU governments to consider moving ahead with the procedure to deprive Hungary — which takes over the presidency next month — of voting rights.

“We have a Europe that is making difficult headway, with unfortunately some states — one state in particular — increasingly adopting a transactional, blocking and veto attitude,” Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib told POLITICO in an interview.

She advocated advancing the EU’s Article 7 censure procedure against Budapest — an extreme move that can result in a country having its voting rights suspended.

“I think we need to have the courage to make decisions: go right to the end of Article 7, activate Article 7 right to the end, which provides for the end of the right of veto,” she said.

The European Parliament triggered the first phase of the Article 7 procedure against Hungary in 2018, but the process has stalled. The next step of that procedure, used when a country is considered at risk of breaching the bloc’s core values, is often called the “nuclear option” because it provides for the most serious political sanctions the bloc can impose on a member country — the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions.

Hungary is set to take over the presidency of the Council of the EU in July, giving Budapest more power to set the EU agenda and priorities for six months, even as Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán continues to obstruct EU decision-making on important matters from military aid to Ukraine, to sanctions against Russia, to take the next step to welcome Kyiv into the bloc.

“This is a moment of truth,” Lahbib said. “Either we face up to our responsibilities, which requires political courage and willpower. Or we put in place mechanisms that don’t work. And so we have to choose.”

“If we go all the way with this mechanism, it must work. If it doesn’t work, we have to reform it. That’s the future of the European Union,” Lahbib said.

Frustrated over Budapest’s blocking moves, other European countries are considering creative ways to get around Budapest on important EU decisions, such as targeting Russian exports without requiring unanimity. Some EU leaders are also suggesting giving Hungary a weak portfolio in the next European Commission, despite Budapest’s wish to keep the prestigious enlargement job.