EP condemns Hungarian government's "deliberate and systematic efforts" to breach fundamental EU values

The European Parliament (EP) on Tuesday approved a draft resolution condemning the Hungarian government's "deliberate and systematic efforts" to breach fundamental EU values.

These values are listed in one of the EU's founding treaties and are upheld by the procedure described in Article 7 in case concerns should arise about their violation in a member state. The EP initiated this procedure against Hungary in 2018, and it is currently the only such procedure ever started, but the Council of Ministers of Member States has failed to move forward with it or end it since it was initiated.

The final version of the second interim report on the Article 7 procedure received 415 votes in favor, 193 against, and 28 abstentions.

What is in the text?

The final text of the document has no direct legal consequences, and almost all proposed amendments to it were rejected at the plenary session. One amendment, supported by about fifty representatives—mainly from the Patriots for Europe faction, which was partly founded by Fidesz—would have changed the entire content of the report, but it did not receive a majority vote.

The text, which had been adopted at the preparatory and committee levels and was ultimately approved with only one amendment, emphasized that the threat to the EU's values and legal order had worsened, partly due to the Council's inaction, and that Hungary had become a "hybrid electoral autocracy." It again called on the Council to move on to the second stage of the procedure.

It argues that the Hungarian government has failed to adequately protect citizens' rights, has undermined academic freedom, and has systematically weakened the National Judicial Council. It also found additional issues with politically motivated business practices, the constitutional ban on Pride, and the distribution of state advertising to pro-government media outlets. It also cited the European Commission's investigation into alleged Hungarian espionage against EU institutions. (Based on an article by Direkt36, which another EP committee also discussed behind closed doors recently.)

The report condemned the transactional use of EU budgetary instruments as well as the government's regular use of its veto power in the Council as a means of exerting influence. According to the text, exploiting legal loopholes has enabled the Hungarian government to circumvent the partial freezing of EU funds. At the same time, the EP finds it important to ensure that the final beneficiaries of EU funds, including civil society, are not deprived of financial support. The text criticizes the 2023 decision to release part of the funds that had been frozen until then. (The EP also filed a lawsuit over this move, suspecting that the European Commission had rushed its decision in exchange for Hungary not using its veto.)

The document also highlights the link between corruption and the integrity of elections, including through clientelist networks. It identifies enduring obstacles before the Integrity Authority which could jeopardize the entirety of EU funds allocated to Hungary.

Only one amendment received a majority vote in the plenary session, which was partially proposed by the original rapporteur, Tineke Strik. It "recalls with concern the increasing use of unlabelled, AI-generated political content in Hungary ahead of the 2026 elections", noting "the deliberate posting of deepfake videos on social-media channels closely linked to the prime minister’s political party and campaign, and their coordinated amplification through affiliated accounts to maximise reach and public impact".

According to the amendment, these are not always marked as having been artificially created or manipulated, which could also be a problem under the EU legislation on digital services and artificial intelligence.

The use of such content to mislead voters and discredit political opponents "represents a serious threat to the fairness of democratic elections and the credibility of democratic institutions as a whole," the document states.