Danish European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre says Copenhagen will ramp up Article 7 proceedings against Budapest.
Denmark wants Europe to deploy its full legal arsenal against Hungary over violations of the bloc’s fundamental rights, including by pursuing the Article 7 so-called nuclear option against Budapest.
“We are still seeing a violation on fundamental values,” Danish European Affairs Minister Marie Bjerre told reporters in Aarhus, where the European Commission is on a visit as Copenhagen takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. “That is why we will continue the Article 7 procedure and the hearing on Hungary.”
Article 7 is a clause in the EU treaty that allows countries to vote to exclude or penalize a member that falls afoul of the bloc’s rules. It’s widely considered to be a nuclear legal option, which the EU has so far stopped short of using despite Brussels saying that Hungary has violated its laws.
It says Hungary was violating Brussels laws, but doesn’t explain what and the nuances of why the Danish are going after Hungary.
From what I found: Hungary put a new law in place that says they can investigate and prosecute anyone that “threatens the sovereignty of Hungary” [source]. But because of how the law is written, it violates the EU policy that states citizens have the right to privacy.
It seems like the Danish are pulling an article 7 (to block Hungary from voting) so they can boot out Hungary who is an opponent to Ukraine becoming an EU member; which is causing problems with the EU supporting Ukraine against Russia
Thank you for this