Orbán’s ‘Authoritarian’ Government Must Be Sanctioned, Cyrus Engerer Says Of Hungarian Prime Minister
Cyrus Engerer is not one to mince his words when it comes to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, especially since the two political figures do not see eye to eye on numerous subjects matters, especially with regards to LGBTIQ rights.
Lovin Malta spoke with the Maltese MEP to get his views on Orbán’s recent controversial move- vetoing the EU aid package for Ukraine at the recent European Council Summit.Engerer described Orbán’s Government as “authoritarian”, saying that the Hungarian Prime Minister’s intentions are “to destabilise the European Union” as part of his |revenge” ploy against the EU for flagging certain undemocratic practices in his rule.
He went on to state that Orbán is “in partnership with Putin and is playing his game in the Council of the EU”.Engerer reiterated that the Russian war against Ukraine is not just a mere land war, but is an aggression against the European values of human rights, the protection of minorities and the rule of law.
“In fact”, Engerer explained, “Article 7 against Hungary has already been voted on by the European Parliament and has only found stumbling blocks in the European Council”.
Article 7 is the a process which can be invoked by the EU to suspend a Member State’s rights.While many EU officials are in favour of using this weapon against Hungary, one main concern is that this could set a negative precedent.
When asked whether this measure could be abused of in the long run if utilised against Hungary, Engerer made his stance clear:“There are enough safeguards and layers that make it impossible for Article 7 to be used abusively. Not invoking it against Hungary is the real abuse against citizens, our values and the Union itself.”
The MEP also criticised the EU’s decision making process, describing it as “too slow” and saying that it “won’t survive long functioning in this way and achieving weak results”.
Do you agree with Cyrus’ statements? Sound off in the comments
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