In a recent interview with the German newspaper Rheinische Post, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna of Estonia has accused Hungary of ‘being part of Putin’s team’. The controversial statements have been picked up and republished by multiple Ukrainian news outlets.

Minister Tsahkna has argued that ‘Let’s be honest: to be divided, you need two big parties. With Hungary, we have a very weak country that is part of Putin’s team, not part of our European team.’ He then reiterated his extreme idea that Hungary should be stripped of its voting rights within the Council of the European Union.

‘Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union allows a Member State to be deprived of its voting rights if its membership endangers the security of Europe and other members. This is exactly what [Prime Minister] Orbán [of Hungary] is doing,’ the Minister stated in the interview, adding this time that he believes the possibility of the full Article 7 punishment of Hungary is ‘getting closer and closer’.

He called for this measure last month already, after Hungary vetoed the extension of the sanctions on Russia by the EU. Eventually, Hungary lifted its veto, reportedly after the urging of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Discussions of the use of Article 7 procedures against Hungary within EU bodies started in June 2015. The procedure officially commenced in September 2018, an have been ongoing since. However, since actual suspension of rights would require a unanomous vote in the EU Council (evidently, excluding the country against which the procedure have been triggered), it is unlikely to ever come into effect. Slovakia, and most likely, Italy would veto such an extreme measure.

There could be a change of government in both countries, with more liberal, globalist administrations coming in, like we saw in the case of Poland. However, by the same token, any other Member State could elect a right-wing, soveriegnist national government at the same time.

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