It’s about time
Remember, Viktor Orban’s Hungary is the template for Tucker Carlson’s America. It’s crooked as hell:
Brussels sent a stern message to Hungary on Wednesday: fix your rule-of-law problems or risk losing EU money. How that message lands will reverberate across Europe.
For years, the EU has struggled to address the issue of democratic backsliding among its own members. One particular irritation has been Hungary, where civil liberties groups and international watchdogs say Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has overseen a decade-long campaign to erode traditional checks and balances, strangle the media and dole out EU funds to friends and family.
On Wednesday, the European Commission took its most serious step to date to try and change Orbán’s behavior, formally triggering a powerful new mechanism that could result in Hungary losing EU funds over rule-of-law violations — the first time the bloc has deployed the authority.
In an internal note, seen by POLITICO, the Commission said “there are reasonable grounds” to conclude that structural issues in Hungary “are indicative of breaches of the principles of the rule of law.”
The decision marks a significant moment for the EU. With its move, the EU has set a new precedent and sent a warning to other European countries facing problems handling EU funds and respecting democratic norms. How the ensuing process with Hungary unfolds will determine how that warning is received.
The Commission’s note ticked off a few of the issues it sees in Hungary: “systemic irregularities, deficiencies and weaknesses in public procurement procedures.”
It cited an “unusually high percentage of contracts” awarded in single-bidder competitions and the funneling of contracts to “specific companies” that have grabbed large market shares as a result. These issues stretch back years, the note argued, citing audits going back to 2007.
The Commission also flagged “possible irregular auctioning of state-owned agricultural land” and pointed to “limitations to effective investigation and prosecution of alleged criminal activity.”
The note summed up the Commission’s stance: “These issues and their repetition over time demonstrate a systemic inability, failure or unwillingness of the part of the Hungarian authorities to prevent decisions that are in breach of the applicable law.”
The EU officially gained its budget-cutting powers in early 2021, after numerous countries decided the bloc’s existing tools were incapable of policing wayward members.
But a court battle and political considerations prompted the Commission to wait for over a year before formally triggering the authority, which allows the bloc to slash payouts to members when rule-of-law problems threaten the EU budget.
Hungary has now become the test case for that authority.
The Commission had been seeding the ground for months to go after Hungary but repeatedly delayed the final signoff. Earlier this month, the Commission finally announced its intentions to trigger the mechanism, only two days after Orbán won a fourth consecutive term. On Wednesday, the EU commissioners met to give the official go-ahead.
The formal kick-off heralds the beginning of a months-long process that could end with Hungary losing a significant amount of EU funds, with the decision ultimately up to the Council of the EU, composed of representatives from each country.
The US apparently doesn’t have a mechanism to stop right wing corruption in our government so we’ll be able to see where this leads when they take full power and implement their plans. Should be interesting. They’re already dominating the media, after all, and it’s getting worse by the day.