Two members of the European Parliament have said they expect the European Commission to launch a “rule of law mechanism” against Hungary, a legal process that could eventually halt EU billions in Budapest. EU countries with government-controlled courts and arrested state institutions may be deprived of EU funds, but the law has never been tested. At the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday, MEPs were shocked by Orban’s victory speech, in which he struck “opponents”, including a typical boat in the “Brussels bureaucrats”, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr. The tumultuous speech came hours after the Western world reacted with horror to the atrocities in Bucha and other cities near Kyiv. On Monday, Putin congratulated Orban, a longtime Kremlin ally, despite Hungary’s support for EU sanctions against Russia. “Despite the difficult international situation, the further development of a bilateral partnership is fully in line with the interests of the peoples of Russia and Hungary,” the Kremlin said in a statement. Britain’s Nigel Farage, France’s Marine Le Pen and Italy’s Matteo Salvini also rushed to congratulate Orban. “When the people vote, the people win,” Le Pen, the French far-right leader who is vying to oust Emanuel Macron from the presidency in the upcoming election, wrote on Twitter. EU leaders were apparently silent on the day that independent election observers at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said the vote in Hungary had been “tarnished by a lack of a level playing field”. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavskỷ, a key regional ally, said he was “not satisfied with the outcome of the elections in Hungary”, but had to “look for partners” in his country’s interest. “Hungary must choose its side, whether they belong to the EU or NATO,” he said. German MEP Daniel Freund, a staunch critic of Orbán, said he expected the Commission to activate the rule of law mechanism within days. “I understand that the activation of the terms against Hungary could happen, probably already this week,” he told reporters. “The financial pressure will start to be felt quickly enough if the Commission moves,” he said, adding that even if the EU process took months to unfold, it could be more difficult for Budapest to borrow money. Petri Sarvamaa, a center-right Finnish MEP, said he understood the commission was going to launch the process within days, but added that Hungary had asked much deeper questions. Europe may be approaching a historic moment, he said. “We are facing existential issues. These are totalitarian regimes against the democratic world, and Orban seems willing to take part in them. [first] camp.” “We ousted Victor Orban… and we, the union, appeased Vladimir Putin. And if we continue on this path … we will find ourselves outdated “. László Andor, a former Hungarian European Commissioner, said he expected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “hesitate” on the next steps. “Dealing with Hungary is not the strongest performance of the Von der Leyen commission,” he said. “There was a huge indifference.” Andor, who is a member of the opposition Socialist Party, added: “It is obviously terrible for Hungary to remain so strictly in Orban’s hands and the political landscape also shows this massive division between Budapest and the rest of the country.” Orban’s surprise victory was likely to boost his confidence in the EU, analysts have predicted. “He will be very confident about his policies,” said Daniel Hegedüs, a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, who also expects the Orbán government to “simply steal political ideas from the radical right” after it was revealed that the far-right party of our Homeland was to enter the Parliament for the first time. “Potentially there would be a very realistic balancing game on the part of the European Commission: on the one hand not to cause Hungary to obstruct EU decision-making in the Council, but on the other hand not to be too lenient and too friendly. “It would be fatal if there was only accommodation.” Orban will also have to repair fences with allies in Central Europe who have criticized his refusal to help Ukraine with weapons or allow weapons to travel through Hungary. A meeting of four Central European defense ministers was canceled last week after the Czech defense minister accused Hungary of valuing “cheap Russian oil” in exchange for Ukrainian blood. But there were signs of rapprochement between Warsaw and Budapest when Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who is in favor of harsh sanctions on Russia, refrained from criticizing Hungary for its opposition to an oil embargo. “It is Germany that is the main roadblock to sanctions,” he said. “Hungary is in favor of sanctions,” he said. While Poland and Hungary strongly oppose their approach to Russia, nationalist governments share common ground in their fight for the rule of law in Brussels. “Relationships will be a little colder than they used to be,” Hegedüs said. “But they also have areas of common interest and I think they will work very closely together in those areas.” Dutch Liberal MP Sophie in ‘t Veld described Orbán’s re-election as a “disaster” for Hungarians. It also means that it will participate in the European Council [of EU leaders] “A very powerful EU governing body that legislates for all Europeans – as someone who has been elected through rigged elections,” he said, as the OSCE issued its critique report, highlighting “biased” news coverage and the blurred line between the parties. and state. “The magnitude of this problem must be sunk,” he said.
