The Czech Republic, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU,Hungary could lose 7.5 billion euros – almost 200 billion crowns and about five percent of gross domestic product – if it accepts Brussels’ argument that Viktor Orbán’s allies are siphoning the sum from the EU budget. Nepshavaquoted by Rador.

Although it is currently unknown whether these sanctions will be applied against Hungary, since, according to the government of Budapest, the necessary legislative changes have been submitted, accordingly, amendments will be submitted to the Hungarian Parliament that will ensure greater transparency in the field of public procurement, its success is currently far away from certainty

The European Commission extended the deadline for adoption and implementation of the amendments until November 19 at the latest.

If the EU member states come to the conclusion that Hungary is still at risk of unfair management of EU funds, Hungary’s exit from the EU can be approved by a majority vote at the meeting of finance ministers.

The vote will be put on the agenda by the country that presides over the Council of the European Union.

If a vote on sanctions were to take place, a qualified majority would be required, i.e. 55 percent of the member states (ie 15 out of 27 member states), or if the member states supporting the proposal represent at least 65 percent of the total population. EU. In case of a vote, Poland would hardly support the sanctions against Hungary.

But what decision will the Czech Republic, which currently presides over the EU Council, make?

On the Czech side, Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura, a member of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who is the president of the G20 finance ministers this semester, would vote.

As Hospodářské Noviny writes, it is not clear what the opinion of Minister Zbynek Stanžura is on this matter. Portals HN and Aktuálně contacted him several times, but without success.

ODS has long protected Orbán from criticism from Brussels, but after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Hungarian prime minister’s supporters in this political formation have significantly decreased due to his pro-Russian actions.

In ODS, opinions on this issue are divided

While Jan Zagradil, leader of the ODS group in the European Parliament, continues to defend Orbán, Defense Minister Jana Czernokhova publicly criticized the Hungarian prime minister: Jana Czernokhova refused to participate in the Budapest meeting of defense ministers of the Visegrad Group (Hungary, Poland). , the Czech Republic and Slovakia -V4) because of Orban’s position on Ukraine.

Zbynek Stanjura himself has never commented on the Prime Minister of Hungary. Tomasz Weiss, the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance, said that for procedural reasons the situation in Hungary will not be discussed at the next meeting of the heads of EU ministries scheduled for October 4.

Before that, the case must go through the EU’s working committees, so the October deadline cannot be met, Weiss told the HN and Aktuálně portals.

“Overall, we want to give Hungary a chance to show that it is serious about anti-corruption reforms,” ​​the spokesman added.

A similar position was held by influential representatives of the UDS, who shape the government’s policy towards the EU, such as the member of the European Parliament Oleksandr Vondra, the former vice-prime minister.

“I fully understand the interest and requirements of the European Commission, that when it pays for something, it should be interested in what exactly the money is spent on. But I would like us to solve this problem through some dialogue with Hungary, and not to take measures that lead for example, when leaving the EU,” Oleksandr Vondra said.

TOP 09 and the Pirate Party criticize Orbán

The other two parties in the coalition, TOP 09, a liberal-conservative political party, and the Pirate Party, a liberal formation, have long been critical of Viktor Orbán, but Petr Fiala’s government has yet to discuss how to manage possible sanctions against Hungary.

Currently, there is no position of the government regarding the possible withdrawal of the funds allocated to Hungary, the minister responsible for European affairs, politician of the STAN party, Mikuláš Bek, said in Brussels. “I do not hide that this is one of the points that divides the parties of the coalition,” Mikulas Bek added.

For her part, European Commissioner Vera Jourova, who is responsible for the rule of law, among other things, said: if Hungary fulfills what it has promised, it can convince member states to stop the procedure.