The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France. (Image by Leonardo1982 from Pixabay via Courthouse News)
(CN) Europe’s top court on Thursday tossed out Hungary’s bid to overturn a 2018 vote by the European Parliament that triggered sanctions proceedings against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his government for allegedly operating like an undemocratic one-party state.
Under Orban’s far-right rule, Hungary has become a massive headache for the European Union by undermining democracy within his country, befriending Russia and sowing discord within the EU, and spreading his authoritarian brand of politics to other EU nations, most notably Poland and neighboring Slovenia.
The European Court of Justice has ruled that the European Parliament was within its rights to have started proceedings against Hungary for rule of law violations.
The case was brought forward by the Hungarian government nearly three years ago after MEPs voted to trigger for the first time a procedure known as Article 7 in September 2018, which is used to determine whether a member state has breached the bloc’s founding values.
Budapest argues that the vote in the Parliament should not have been counted due to abstentions by some MEPs not being factored into the two-thirds majority needed for the vote to pass.
Following the recommendation of parliament, the government has decided not to participate in the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
Rik Daems held talks with Hungarian leaders on minority rights and the right to a healthy environment in Budapest on Friday, a government official said.