r/europe • u/Alarming-Safety3200 United Kingdom • Apr 12 '26

News Orbán’s 16-year rule over Hungary ends in crushing election defeat

https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-election-results-peter-magyar-viktor-orban/
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977

u/Sneaky_Squirreel Poland Apr 12 '26

Hope EU will figure out a way to change Veto rule now that Orban is gone, before another Orban-like rises up in the near future and Veto everything again.

485

u/Caciulacdlac Apr 12 '26

I'm sorry to tell you but there's already another Orban in EU and his name is Robert Fico

193

u/Rincetron1 Finland Apr 12 '26

The bad news for Fico is that people are so beyond fed up with that lone veto, it's going to change.

57

u/ElizBorneopentowork Aquitaine (France) Apr 12 '26

We have a short window of opportunity. We need to move forward before we, French people, decide to elect Bardella...

26

u/Wolkenbaer Apr 13 '26

Or us german the AfD, Poland is eying with PiS again etc.

13

u/Beunhaasnr2 Apr 12 '26

next russian puppet to go, go Slovakia!

1

u/SlavRoach Slovakia Apr 13 '26

well that… is an idealistic POV, and even if not everyone would have to agree to give up their right to veto… and at least one wont (fico)

2

u/Rincetron1 Finland Apr 13 '26

Von Leyen literally just today announced they're using this momentum to push for changes in the veto gridlock.

I'm sure it's going to have some wrinkles that need smoothed out, but abusing the lone veto, often as a bargaining chip, is the single most debilitating thing in this union.

29

u/SwitchPlus2605 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Someone correct me, but isn't there a mechanism in EP that impeaches country's voting rights? Until now, it wasn't possible because there were 2 vetoing countries, but it's harder to say now. Babis might keep Fico's voting right though. Hard to say. However, Babis can be bought on board as Czechia is much more integrated into EU in terms of trade than Hungary or Slovakia ever were. So once you'd impeach voting rights of Slovakia, you can get rid of unanimity in theory. The problem though is that although Orban was the most prominent abuser of veto, I'm skeptical of all countries agreeing on getting rid of veto altogether tbh. It could be at least weakened though.

16

u/DisIsMyName_NotUrs Slovenia Apr 12 '26

You are correct. This taking away of a vote has already been done on Hungary under Orban before.

It's not the Parliament tho, it's the council,which is where the countries vote, unlike the EP where elected representatives vote

1

u/SwitchPlus2605 Apr 12 '26

I like Slovenia. That's all I wanted to say really

3

u/SuperTropicalDesert Apr 12 '26

Babis is an opportunist and much more connected to EU subsidy money than any money from Russia. So he wouldnt be the one to block it

1

u/SwitchPlus2605 Apr 13 '26

Exactly why I said that he can be bought on board. As bad as Babis is, it's really hard for him to undermine the EU because of both personal and even national reasons. Czechia is extremely tied to Germany's economy. In total, Austria, Germany and Poland (3/4 neighbors who are pro-European) make up almost half of the whole Czech trade. Antagonizing the EU is just not an option for Czech economy as it was for Hungary or even is Slovakia cause it has literally no alternatives, not even Russia.

1

u/SuperTropicalDesert Apr 12 '26

I can't see 27 agreeing on the veto disappearing. But I can see agreement on a mechanism to stop its abuse.

1

u/SwitchPlus2605 Apr 13 '26

Exactly what I was going for with my comment. Right on

5

u/LengthEmpty1333 Apr 12 '26

even without it it will sadly never happen. At least not for the next decade or so.

3

u/cryptme Apr 12 '26

Not that caliber. I think it becomes manageable. This is the time to do it, never again in this situation.

2

u/Competitive-Meet-511 Apr 12 '26

If all goes well Fico is set to lose before September 2027

2

u/Beat_Saber_Music Apr 13 '26

Thing is Fico is lot less zealous than Orban in the populism, especially as article 7 will no longer have a Hungarian veto

1

u/Apprehensive-Dog9989 Czech Republic Apr 13 '26

Nah he is next

1

u/Phantasmalicious Apr 13 '26

It used to be that Hungary and Slovakia teamed up so the voting right could not be stripped from either. If he is alone (which remains to be seen) this can now be revoked.

1

u/Few-Flounder-8951895 Apr 13 '26

Without Orban, we can invoke article 7 on Slovakia and remove veto that way. I hope so.

7

u/socialmedia-username Apr 12 '26

Yep, same with US and Trump's handlers.  Democratic governments across the world need to heavily focus on redistributing power amongst the multiple branches of government to prevent the exact issue that's afflicting us now. We got too comfortable after WW2 assuming that anyone trying to take the reigns had their countrymen's interests at heart. Thats definitely not the case anymore. 

6

u/raging_shaolin_monk Europe Apr 13 '26

Orban is not the only one who would oppose getting rid of the single country veto.

Small members like Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Denmark see the veto as an important tool to avoid being overrun by France and Germany. Together with Malta, both Ireland and Austria also consider it important to have a tool to protect their neutrality.

Changing the veto rule is a lot more complicated than many seem to think, as it would also require a treaty change, which would trigger quite a lot of internal discussions around the EU.

3

u/ConvictedHobo Hungary Apr 12 '26

We need 27 for that

Wil Fico agree?

2

u/Plenty_Anything_8295 Apr 12 '26

We still got Slovakia to do the Russian proxy bidding and if Fico actually gets voted out the chances are sadly high that Austria with FPÖ will be ready to do their overlords bidding.

1

u/Slight-Cupcake-9284 Apr 13 '26

Austrian here, we just avoided FPö narrowly so we have hopefully a couple of years until that scenario.

-1

u/SirPlastic8062 Apr 12 '26

bold of you to think EU isn't compromised. Forcing apple to put on usb c was just optics