The European Commission has launched an unused procedure against Hungary, which could lead to the suspension of EU funds due to violations of democratic standards.
The information comes two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s conservative FIDES party won the parliamentary elections by a large majority.
The European Commission will send a letter of formal notice to launch the new rule of law mechanism, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The mechanism was set up in 2020 after a summit in the midst of a pandemic in which member states reached a difficult compromise on a common debt to rebuild the EU from the Covid crisis.
The allocation of funds was conditional on the rule of law. Hungary and Poland have appealed to the European Court of Justice against the mechanism, but it has been rejected.
This paved the way for the European Commission to launch proceedings against Hungary over its controversial public procurement system, conflict of interest and corruption.
For months, the EC has been under pressure from the European Parliament to implement the mechanism against Poland and Hungary.
In response, the Hungarian government accused Brussels of making a mistake.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gerge Gujas, has called on the European Commission not to punish Hungarian voters for their choice in the parliamentary vote on Sunday, when the ruling Fidesz party won a majority.
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