ZAGREB, September 13, 2018 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Pula on Thursday that Croatia shared some concerns about Hungary mentioned in a report on the situation in that country adopted in Strasbourg yesterday, but added that this issue should have been resolved through the European Commission and not the European Parliament, which is why MEPs from the ranks of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) voted against the report.
MEPs on Wednesday approved the Judith Sargentini report that finds the rule of law in Hungary wanting.
The report authored by Green MEP Sargentini says there is a “clear risk” of a serious breach by Hungary of the values of the European Union and calls for the Article 7 procedure, which ultimately suspends a member state’s voting rights, to be opened. The report was approved with 448 votes in favour, 197 against and 48 abstentions.
“This is not the right way,” Plenković said. “If there is a serious problem, and to some extent we do understand and share some concerns mentioned in the report, the right way would be to go through the European Commission and not the European Parliament, which is why we voted the way we did,” Plenković said. He added that a similar case involving Poland was being handled through the European Commission.
The other reason why the HDZ objected, Plenković said, is “the number of outstanding issues we have with Hungary which we would like to resolve,” he said. “Strategically, we see this decision in a much wider context,” he added.
The vote comes nine months after the European Commission used its power to launch the same process against Poland. The rarely invoked process is designed to prevent member states from breaching the EU’s “core values.”
