Open letter to EU Ministers: actions are needed against Hungary’s continued defiance of human rights and rule of law

26/05/2025
Open Letter
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Ferenc ISZA / AFP

Ahead of the European Union (EU) General Affairs Council meeting on 27 May 2025, where EU Member States’ representatives will hold a hearing under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) on the situation of the rule of law and human rights in Hungary, six international NGOs wrote a letter to EU Ministers urging them to hold a vote under Article 7.1 TEU to determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the EU founding values in Hungary.

26 May 2025. The signatory organisations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), draw the Ministers’ attention to recent developments regarding the crackdown on civil society organisations and independent media, LGBTIQ+ persons’ rights to freedom of assembly and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which further threaten human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles in Hungary. FIDH and partners consider that there is a compelling case for taking the Article 7 TEU procedure forward, including by addressing clear, concrete and timebound recommendations to the Hungarian authorities, whose non-implementation would lead the Council to conclude that there is a serious and persistent breach of the EU founding values in Hungary. This could further lead to a suspension of Hungary’s voting rights within the EU Council.

22 EU Member States (i.e. the four-fifth) would have to vote in favour in order for the Council to be able to determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the EU’s founding values in Hungary under Article 7.1 TEU.

Click here to read the open letter (in english only)

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