Finnish MP Petri Sarvamaa launched a campaign to collect signatures to strip Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of his right to vote in the European Council. He announced this on his own page. social network X (formerly Twitter) is also publishing a petition.
“It’s now or never. The EU’s decision-making mechanism is blocked because of Viktor Orban. The only way to achieve this is to deprive Orbán of his voting rights in the Council. At the same time, we will show that there is no room for blackmail in the EU,” Sarvamaa wrote.
He published a petition drafted by MEP Robert Metsole and called on other MPs to sign it. The document states that by depriving Orbán of the right to vote in the European Council, “the EU will send a clear signal to Hungary that its actions are unacceptable.”
It was previously reported that the current president of the European Council, Charles Michel, will retire in early summer 2024. Michel’s assistant confirmed this information to Politico on January 7. The politician plans to become a European MP, and for this he will have to leave his current position.
If EU leaders cannot quickly agree on the candidacy of the new president of the European Council, this person will be Viktor Orban, because Hungary will preside over the Council of the European Union at that time.
Previously The Hungarian Foreign Ministry said Budapest would try to “open the eyes” of the EU.