EU Moves to Sanction Hungary For Voting The Wrong Way in Sunday's Election

“More than 200 international observers monitored the election…along with thousands of volunteers from across the political spectrum.

Turnout hit 68.69%, almost matching the record number of voters in the last national elections”

Amazing how little democracy exists in Hungary! pic.twitter.com/c25uH6Fe36

— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) April 4, 2022

In case you have any doubt this “democracy” nonsense is fake.

One of the reasons the EU is mad at Orban is because he allowed mail-in voting without an ID. pic.twitter.com/7MutEHsA4v

— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) April 4, 2022

BREAKING: European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced today that Hungary will be the first country to face proceedings under the Commission's powerful new mechanism to cut funding to countries that erode the bloc's rule-of-law standards.https://t.co/vVlrRn8HgB

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) April 5, 2022

The European Commission will soon trigger a powerful new mechanism to cut funding to Hungary for eroding the bloc's rule-of-law standards, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday.

The announcement comes two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán won a fourth consecutive term in an election that international observers said was marred by an uneven playing field benefiting the ruling Fidesz party. It's a theme that has played out over Orbán's decade-plus in power, during which civil liberties groups say the Hungarian leader has gradually taken control of democratic institutions and funneled taxpayer money to friends and family.

Von der Leyen said her team informed Hungary of its decision on Tuesday after reviewing Budapest’s responses to an informal letter the Commission sent last November asking for information on its rule-of-law concerns.

"We've carefully assessed the result of these questions," von der Leyen said, speaking to the European Parliament. "Our conclusion is we have to move on [to] the next step."

Hungary is the first country to face proceedings under the new power, which gives the EU the authority to cut millions in EU payouts to countries where it determines rule-of-law breaches are putting the bloc's budget at risk. The Commission's decision to move ahead could signal a turning point in Brussels' willingness to go after wayward members accused of corruption and democratic backsliding.

[...] Responding to von der Leyen's announcement, Minister Gergely Gulyás -- who serves as Orbán's chief of staff -- chastised Brussels to the Hungarian media, saying the EU was essentially punishing Hungarian voters for their democratic choices.