The European Parliament voted in favour of a resolution on the EU enlargement strategy on Wednesday, 11 March, which, among other provisions, included a proposal to abandon unanimity when opening and closing negotiation chapters in the European Council—a move widely seen as an attempt to override Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s accession.
The resolution, adopted with 385 votes in favour, 147 against, and 98 abstentions, describes EU enlargement as a strategic response to the ‘changing geopolitical environment’, particularly the war in Ukraine. It is based on an own-initiative report prepared by the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs and presented by Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius, which argues that failure to enlarge could allow Russia, China, or other external actors to increase their influence in neighbouring regions.
Changing EU Rules for Ukraine
One of the most controversial points of the resolution is the proposal to reform EU decision-making in order to accelerate the pace of the enlargement process. According to the report, the European Council should use qualified majority voting instead of unanimity for intermediate steps of accession talks, including the opening and closing of negotiation clusters and chapters. The final accession decision would, however, still require unanimity among member states.
The proposal is widely interpreted as targeting Hungary, which is currently blocking Ukraine’s EU accession for several reasons, primarily citing security and economic concerns.
‘The proposal is widely interpreted as targeting Hungary’
In effect, the proposal calls on the European Commission and the European Council to alter EU procedures in order to move forward with Kyiv’s accession despite Budapest’s objections.
The European Parliament also ‘calls for the swift opening of negotiating clusters with Ukraine and Moldova and urges the Hungarian Government to refrain from continuing to block negotiations’. MEPs additionally ‘expressed regret’ that the Council of the European Union has not yet reached agreement on the use of frozen Russian assets.
Hungarian Opposition Avoids Vote
Ukraine has become a central issue in Hungary’s election campaign ahead of the upcoming parliamentary vote in April. Kyiv has been halting oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline—a key route for energy supplies to both Hungary and Slovakia—since 27 January. In response, Orbán vowed to block the €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy openly threatened Orbán with possible military action if he does not lift his veto on the loan, stating that ‘we will give the address of that person to our armed forces, and let them call him and speak with him in their own language’. Yesterday, former lieutenant general of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) Hryhoriy Omelchenko doubled down on Zelenskyy’s remarks, issuing a death threat against both Orbán and his family.
Just a day ahead of the vote in the European Parliament, the Hungarian parliament adopted a resolution expressing its opposition to Ukraine’s accession to the EU, continued war aid to Kyiv, efforts to transform the EU into a military alliance, and initiatives that threaten the sovereignty of member states. The resolution passed with 142 votes in favour, 28 against, and 4 abstentions.
MEPs from the Hungarian governing party Fidesz voted against the EP resolution on Wednesday, while the main opposition party Tisza—including its leader Péter Magyar—skipped the vote, apparently seeking to avoid political backlash ahead of the April election. The move comes as Tisza attempts to distance itself from the issue of Ukraine, while Orbán has accused the party of being pro-Ukraine and even receiving financial support from Kyiv.
‘Vote against Orbán!’
During the parliamentary debate preceding the vote, Vice President of the European Parliament and Romanian Green MEP Nicolae Ștefănuță sharply criticized Hungary’s stance on Ukraine, urging Transylvanian Hungarians to vote against Orbán’s government in the election.
‘Today I want to encourage all Hungarians in Transylvania to go to vote, to participate, to register. Viktor Orbán’s imaginary enemy is Ukraine, but the very real enemy of the people is poverty, being left behind, the very, very high cost of living, corruption,’ Ștefănuță claimed, accusing Orbán of attacking the EU and Ukraine to divert attention from domestic issues. ‘Orbán, nothing lasts forever,’ Ștefănuță concluded.
Reacting to the accusations, Orbán condemned Ștefănuță’s ‘audacity to lecture Hungarians’ and ‘urge them to vote against us’. Addressing the claims that Hungary is ‘being left behind’ with a ‘high cost of living’ and ‘corruption’, Orbán argued that the situation contrasts sharply with developments elsewhere in Europe.
Vice President @nicustefanuta, in the European Parliament you had the audacity to lecture Hungarians, urging them to vote against us. Before doing so, perhaps you should take a look around Europe. Across the continent there are austerity measures, layoffs, and factory…
‘While in other parts of Europe there are austerity measures, layoffs, and factory closures, in Hungary we have ensured work opportunities for everyone who wants to work, introduced lifetime income tax exemption for mothers with two or more children, raised the minimum wage by another 11 per cent, introduced a fixed 3 per cent home loan for young people, and expanded family support,’ he said.
‘This is all possible because we keep our money in Hungary instead of throwing it at Ukraine,’ Orbán continued, adding that this is the ‘difference between Brusselian politics and Hungarian priorities’. ‘We put our people first,’ the prime minister declared. Concluding his response, Orbán said he would refrain from commenting on the ‘state of the Romanian economy’ as a gesture of goodwill, referring to the recent austerity package introduced in Romania to address the largest budget deficit in the EU.
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