Politico: Trust between Orbán and other EU leaders "under the frog's ass"

Some EU leaders are fed up with the soft tactics used against the Hungarian government so far and would like to step up the pressure, for example by kicking Hungary out of the EU voting process, Politico reports.

An EU official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the Hungarian saying referencing a frog's bottom used to describe when something is not going well is an accurate description of where the trust between Orbán and the other EU leaders is.

Another official said that if the Hungarian Prime Minister should again block the approval of the €50 billion aid package for Ukraine at the upcoming summit taking place next week, moving forward with the Article 7 procedure, which could potentially include the Hungarian government's voting rights being suspended "could become a real possibility".

Meanwhile, Népszava reported, quoting an insider source at the EP, that the European Parliament's legal affairs committee is expected to vote next Thursday, the day of the EU summit, on whether the EP should take the European Commission to the EU Court of Justice for releasing €10.2 billion in catch-up funding to Hungary in December.

It was last week that European Parliament debated the results of the latest EU summit. During the December summit the European Council, made up of member states' heads of state and government decided to start accession talks with Ukraine, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán vetoed an increase in the common budget as well as further aid to the EU candidate country currently under Russian invasion.

It was the day before this summit that the European Commission made the decision stating that the Hungarian authorities had completed the required judicial reforms, since the last piece of requested legislation was published in the Hungarian Official Gazette on the same day. As a result, the €10.2 billion in catch-up funding that had been blocked for this reason specifically were made available to Hungary.

The first phase of the Article 7 procedure was initiated by the European Parliament in 2018. Despite occasional hearings, member states have so far neither made a decision about halting it or moving it forward, which is why Hungary is still in the first stage of the procedure. At this stage in the process, a four-fifths majority of EU ministers are needed to determine whether there is a clear risk that Hungary is in serious breach of EU core values. Prior to this, they can make recommendations, but they have not even got that far. Last week's resolution "deeply regrets" that member states have failed to "make meaningful progress" and calls for recommendations and taking action.

The second stage of the Article 7 procedure can be launched by a decision approved by a third of the member states or by the European Commission "with the EP's agreement". Article 7 of the EU Treaty does not explicitly state that the previous stage must be completed before the second stage can be launched.