Hungarian MPs have passed a resolution on desired changes in the EU, including an army and greater powers for the member states
FILE PHOTO: A general view inside the European Parliament is seen in Strasbourg, France, on May 11, 2016 © Getty Images / Christopher Furlong
The Hungarian parliament has passed a resolution demanding Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government pursue the nation’s “vision” for the future of the European Union. The document put forward by several MPs, including from Orban’s Fidesz Party, seeks the dissolution of the European Parliament in its present form, as well as veto power for member states on any EU legislation.
“The European Union must change because it is unprepared to face today’s challenges,” says the resolution published on the website of parliament. It especially criticized the “ill-considered” sanctions the EU imposed on Russia over its military action in Ukraine, adding that their economic fallout has affected Hungarian citizens. The document was endorsed by 130 MPs, while 50 voted against it.
According to the resolution, “only strong and capable member states are able to protect their citizens.” The task of the bloc must thus lie with supporting its member states “in effective crisis management,” the document says, adding that the current EU treaty framework “is not suitable to serve as the basis for cooperation in the era of crises.”
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The lawmakers then demanded the EU Treaties be reviewed to legally ensure “political and ideological neutrality” of the EU Commission and reorganize the European Parliament so that its members would be chosen by the member states’ legislative bodies rather than through direct elections.
National parliaments should also have the right to veto “unwanted EU legislation” and national governments and lawmakers should be able to propose new bills at the EU level, the document says. Other suggestions include creating a “common European army” to ensure the continent is able to “defend itself,” as well as protecting native European minorities and recognizing Europe’s Christian and cultural roots as “the basis of European integration.” Integration should also no longer be perceived as a “goal in itself” but serve as a “means” to support the member states’ “national freedom.”
The document was passed in the wake of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The European Commission described it as “a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that ran from April 2021 to May 2022 and enabled people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future.”
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The final report presented by Brussels called for deeper integration and greater “harmonization” within the EU and pointed to the need to abandon the principle of unanimity in favor of “qualified majority decision-making” in a whole number of fields ranging from education to the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
Hungary blasted the report by saying the Conference had become “a servant” to forces “interested in abolishing the sovereignty of the member states and increasing the power of EU bureaucracy.”
Budapest has been at odds with Brussels over a number of issues recently, as Hungary has been one of the most vocal critics of the EU sanctions against Russia. Orban has recently called them “miscalculated” and warned they could destroy Europe’s economy instead of forcing Russia to change its course on Ukraine. The move sparked ire in Brussels, as the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, hit back by saying that sanctions were something the EU “had to do and we will continue doing.”
