EU MPs Urge Leadership to Swiftly Decide on Hungary's Breaches of Bloc's Values

"We have to emphasize that we await a more appropriate and formal Council meeting for handling a matter of the highest significance for the rule of law within the EU… We must draw a line when it comes to breaches in a Member State of our shared European values of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. It is now to the Member States to act in a swift, open and effective manner," EU Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee Chair Claude Moraes said.

The statement was made after in September, the European Parliament voted to proceed with disciplinary action against Hungary under Article 7 of the EU Treaty. The report prepared by the parliament earlier this year said Budapest was at "clear risk of a serious breach of EU values." Depending on the results of future proceedings under Article 7, the country may have some of its membership rights suspended.

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Previous to that, in July, Hungary withdrew from a UN global agreement on standard ways for countries to address migration-related issues. Budapest cited concerns over security as the reason for leaving the recently-agreed pact.

In accordance with the quotas on migrant redistribution, each EU state is expected to take in a certain number of refugees. The system has been the source of conflict in the bloc as several countries have been unwilling to meet the requirements.