Il The European Parliament officially "condemns" the work of Victor Orban. With 448 votes in favour, 197 against and 48 abstentions, the Strasbourg Plenary approved the request of the Dutch MEP Judith Sargentini to open the procedure envisaged by article 7 of the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1999 against the Hungarian Government, a procedure which, in its most advanced stage, it can lead to sanctions against the country such as the suspension of Hungary's right to vote in the European Council.
Now the word passes to the latter, i.e. to the heads of state and government of the Union, who will be able to deliberate and make recommendations with a majority of four fifths of its members.
Although it is not yet clear on a practical level what this "procedure" will translate into, Article 7 - which has never been activated up to now - still represents the strongest and toughest measure that the Union can take against one of its Member States in case of violation of fundamental rights such as democracy, the rule of law and human rights.
To trigger the Article 7 procedure, a two-thirds majority of the votes cast was required, in addition to an absolute majority of MEPs.
"A historic vote by Parliament in favor of the rule of law – commented the rapporteur of the text Sargentini. Viktor Orbán's government has undermined European values by attacking the independence of the media, judges and academia and people close to the government and their friends and family have enriched themselves at the expense of Hungarian and European taxpayers”.
“The Hungarian people deserve better – added the Dutch MEP – Hungarians also have the right to freedom of expression, non-discrimination, tolerance and justice enshrined in the European treaties”.
I Italian parties had already made their intentions known: PD and M5s voted in favor, against the League, whose secretary Matteo Salvini did not fail to express his vigilance to the "brave Orban" even today.
The vote was preceded by the latest speech on the state of the Union by the president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker who urged everyone to respect "the EU better, let's not dirty its image, let's try to defend its image, say yes to patriotism, no to exaggerated nationalism that hates others and seeks to destroy them".
