Council and Commission need to stop the rule of law onslaught in Hungary—now!

Today the General Affairs Council will hold the eighth hearing of Hungary as part of the Article 7 procedure triggered by the European Parliament. Renew Europe has heard enough. Council has been avoiding a genuine discussion of the Orbán government’s campaign against democracy and the rule of law for seven years, while the situation in Hungary has continued to deteriorate for all to see.

In recent weeks the Orbán government has showed its authoritarian tendencies yet again, with a ban on the Budapest Pride and a draft law targeting NGOs and independent civil society initiatives, undoing not just personal freedoms but also the freedom of expression and assembly. The Commission has to take interim measures immediately to suspend the application of the so-called “propaganda law”, and warn of the consequences if the Hungarian governments continues its attack on European rights and freedoms.

Renew Europe Group President MEP Valérie Hayer says:

"When a government silences Pride, it silences freedom itself. Renew Europe stands unshaken against any blatant attack on civil liberties on our soil: the EU must act now to protect peaceful assembly, defend LGBTQ rights, and hold Hungary accountable to our shared democratic values. Europe can't get complicit through non-action."

Europe must face the fact that its inaction toward the Hungarian government’s repeated violations of the rule of law and EU treaty principles is also setting a dangerous precedent. MEP Sophie Wilmès (Mouvement Réformateur, Belgium) states:

“All efforts to bring reason back have failed. Conciliation has failed to stop the situation worsening. Today, it’s the Hungarian people who suffer most, with their rights and democracy under threat. But if the EU continues to stand by without taking firm action, such as enforcing Article 7 sanctions, we’ll be signaling that anyone, in any Member State, can defy our core principles without consequence."