OREANDA-NEWS The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution calling for disciplinary action against Hungary due to the country's violation of European norms and principles of the rule of law.

On September 12, in the European Parliament, the deputies adopted a resolution calling for punishing Budapest for a departure from democratic principles and non-compliance with EU policy. It is about launching a procedure that could lead to the deprivation of Hungary's right to vote in the EU Council under article 7 of the EU Treaty.

For the first time, the EP has resorted to the procedure of discussing the document with regard to Hungary. A similar procedure could theoretically lead to the deprivation of Budapest's right to vote in the EU Council, was launched by the European Commission in 2017 in relation to Poland.

In April, Dutch MP Judith Sargentini presented a draft report in which she accused the Hungarian authorities of violating the EU's core values. The Committee on civil liberties and justice of the EP introduced the report of Deputy Judith Sargentini with a proposal to the Council to determine, in accordance with article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, the existence of "a clear risk of a serious violation by Hungary of the values on which the Union is based".

The document was to identify recommendations to the authorities to remedy the situation within three months.

The European Parliament was asked to assess the functioning of the constitutional and electoral systems, the independence of the judiciary and other institutions, the rights of judges, the state of anti-corruption, freedom of expression and religion, the rights of minorities and migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, and economic and social rights.

The fact is that Hungary, like other countries of the so-called Visegrad group (Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia), opposes any schemes of mandatory distribution of migrants between the EU States. In response to the EP resolution, the chief of staff of the Prime Minister of Hungary Janos Lazar said that Budapest will continue a tough policy against migrants. Moreover, Budapest demanded from the EC to reimburse half of the money (€400 million) spent by Hungarians for the construction of a fence from illegal migrants.