Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, called on the Member States to pursue the procedure to take away Hungary’s voting rights in the EU Council, as provided for in Article 7 of the Treaty.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib, called on the governments of the EU Member States to apply a procedure of expressing no confidence in Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union.

“We have a Europe that is making difficult progress, unfortunately with certain States – one State in particular – that are increasingly adopting a transactional attitude, blocking and vetoing”, the Belgian Minister said.

“I think we need to have the courage to make decisions: go right to the end of Article 7, activate Article 7 right to the end, which provides for the end of the right of veto,” the minister added.

According to her, the EU countries should reform the mechanisms that are not working.

Commenting on Belgium’s proposal, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary noted that depriving Budapest of its right to vote in the European Union would mean “ceasing the voice of peace.”