Orbán the bitten dog

strasbourg - The conservative EPP group, the largest political family in the European Parliament, is all done with Hungary. This opens the way for sufficient support for a critical Hungary report. The country of Prime Minister Orbán would thus end up on the European criminal court.

How broad the support is exactly among the various EPPs will turn out today if the European Parliament votes on the report by MEP Sargentini (GroenLinks). She concludes that in Hungary the rule of law is under pressure and European values ​​are being violated. If two-thirds of the parliamentarians agree with her conclusions, then her report is adopted.

That would be revolutionary, because Parliament never asked for action against one of its own Member States. Member States will be asked to start the so-called Article 7 procedure. This means that a country is in fact being sidelined, losing its voting rights within the EU.

More important, however, is the political signal to the notorious sleeper: to here and not further. Member States that have knowingly become members of the EU can not fumble at the basis of the democratic constitutional state according to their own judgment, according to the overwhelming majority of parliamentarians.

In Hungary, for example, the judiciary is under pressure and the last independent TV station was taken over by a friend of Prime Minister Orbán last summer. Aid organizations make working impossible, leaving migrants to their fate.

The EPP's arrangement is crucial. Orbán's Fidesz party is part of the EPP group, just like the CDA. Up to now, Orbán has been hand-held by the Christian Democrats in Europe, including, for example, Commission President Juncker and Chancellor Merkel.

The CDA will support Sargentini's report anyway. But also EPP leader Manfred Weber, who wants to be the successor of Juncker after next year's European elections in May, was extremely critical on Tuesday. He made it clear, for example, that the thwarting of the Central European University founded by American billionaire is unacceptable.

Also about the Hungarian refusal to do anything for (Muslim) migrants is very bad. Sargentini's report states that asylum seekers are being denied sufficient food, in the hope that they decide to leave from misery.

Weber hinted that his group would probably support the report. The EPP met in private evenings to discuss their final verdict.

Orbán had come to Strasbourg specifically to defend himself against all accusations at his address and waved away all criticism. In an emotional debate at times, he called the position of the European Parliament 'a slap in the face' of Hungary. 'This report offends Hungary and Hungarian pride,' he said. 'You want to deny a country the right to vote,' said the angry Hungarian leader. 'Every country has the right to make decisions. '

But with this last proposition most European politicians do not fully agree: there is a desire for EU membership, but also burdens. There are rights where a democratically elected government can not just fumble, was the message. 'A government that has been elected with such a majority has a responsibility to its entire population,' Sargentini said.