EU legislators vote to punish Hungary over breach of core values

The European Parliament has voted to rebuke Hungary over alleged breaches of the European Union’s core values by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Orban has been accused of attacks on the media, migrants and the rule of law, and could see his country stripped of voting rights at EU level and facing other measures if the vote is approved by national leaders.

In the initial vote there were 448 in favour of punitive action, 197 against and 48 abstentions.

The country’s ruling Fidesz party, which has taken a hard line on immigration, is said to have placed pressure on Hungary’s electoral and courts systems in a report by Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini.

Orban’s government notably refused to take in asylum seekers since the migrant crisis began in 2015, deploying soldiers to its borders and making it a criminal offence for lawyers and activists to help asylum seekers in June this year.

Hungary’s parliament also passed a constitutional amendment which stated that no "alien population" can be settled in the nation.

Sargentini said that Orban "violates the values on which this union was built" and added that the vote was a "positive sign".

Ahead of the vote, Orban had furiously defended his government on Tuesday, calling the report an “abuse of power” and referring to the threat of punitive measures as “blackmail”.

The results were met with similar outrage from the government, who characterised it as a “revenge” by “pro-immigration” politicians.

Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said: "This decision condemning Hungary and the Hungarian people was made because we Hungarians have demonstrated that migration in not a necessary process and that migration can be stopped."

The vote is unprecedented and leaves the next course of action unclear, with suspension of Hungary's voting rights is the most serious possible consequence but considered unlikely.