Thursday

23rd Mar 2023

EU should kick out Hungary, says Luxembourg minister

  • Asselborn: Expelling Hungary would be "the only possibility to preserve the cohesion and the values" of the EU. (Photo: Council of the EU)

Hungary should be excluded from the EU, Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn has said.

Ejecting Hungary is "the only possibility to preserve the cohesion and the values" of the EU, he said in an interview to German daily Die Welt, published on Tuesday (13 September), three days before a EU leaders summit about the bloc's future without the UK.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We cannot accept that the basic values of the European Union are massively violated," he said.

He said any state that "builds fences against war refugees, or who hurts press freedom and independence of judiciary, must be excluded for the EU temporarily or for ever if needed".

In Hungary, he said, refugees are "treated as wild animals".

He added that Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has "put the EU in trouble" by showing the world it cannot apply at home the values it defends abroad.

Asselborn, a Social Democrat and the longest-serving foreign minister in the EU, said the bloc could not accept "such misconduct".

He said it would be "helpful" if EU rules could be changed to allow the suspension of a member state without unanimity.

Currently there is no clause that allows the expulsion of a member state.

A country's voting rights can be suspended in case of "serious and persistent breach" of EU values. The decision requires unanimity from other member states.

Asselborn said that today, Hungary would "have no chance" of joining the EU.

At the end of August, Orban announced that Hungry would erect a "more massive" fence at its borders to stop migrants coming in. A first one was built last year at the borders with Serbia and Croatia.

 Orban, a strong critic of EU migration policies, has warned many times that migration will destroy Europe's identity.

Referendum

"Europe will no longer be recognisable" if it lets in many Muslim migrants with a higher birth rate, he said again to Hungarian MPs on Monday.

Orban has organised a referendum on migration that will be held on 2 October. Voters will be asked if they "want the European Union to be entitled to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the consent of parliament”.

On Monday, the leader of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party, which in the past has supported his government, said Orban would have to resign if turnout to the referendum is low.

A 50 percent turnout is necessary to validate the vote.

"You hope to score political points with this game of hazard which could end up hurting the entire country," Gabor Vona told Orban in parliament.

"If the referendum is invalid, you have to resign because you led Hungary into a battle you lost."

Hungary steps up campaign on migration referendum

Hungary's government has unveiled six billboards linking the migration crisis to terrorism and crime in an effort to win backing for its referendum on the EU's migration policy.

Orban spins migrant vote result, as EU celebrates

Hungarians have rejected xenophobia with their resounding no-show to Viktor Orban's referendum on Sunday, according to European politicians. But the prime minister claims the vote has validated his battle with Brussels.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. The EU-Turkey migration deal is dead on arrival at this summit
  2. Sweden worried by EU visa-free deal with Venezuela
  3. Spain denies any responsibility in Melilla migrant deaths
  4. How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?
  5. Banning PFAS 'forever chemicals' may take forever in Brussels
  6. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  7. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
  8. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us