Austria supported Belgium’s call to deprive Hungary of its voting rights in the European Union. This was reported by a representative of the country’s Foreign Ministry.
⠀
In his assessment, depriving Hungary of the right to vote in the EU is “especially correct” in anticipation of Budapest’s upcoming presidency of the EU Council.
⠀
“Taking this into account, we support strict [compliance with] the procedure under Article 7 (of the 2007 Treaty on European Union) against Hungary,” a representative of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Said.
⠀
On June 2, Belgian Foreign Minister Aja Labib proposed using Article 7 of the EU Treaty to strip Hungary of its voting rights because of its position on Ukraine. She argued that Budapest too often blocks Brussels’ initiatives to provide military assistance to Kyiv. Commenting on the statement of his Belgian colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó, said that her proposal is aimed at ensuring that the voice of peace ceases to be heard in Europe altogether.
⠀
Article 7 of the EU Treaty provides for the possibility of suspending certain rights of EU countries, including the voting rights of a country’s representative in the EU Council, due to a violation by this state of the values of the community.
