In theory, Brussels could come out with the big guns and use the EU’s so-called Article 7 procedure against Hungary, used when a country is considered at risk of breaching the bloc’s core values. The procedure is sometimes called the EU’s “nuclear option” as it provides for the most serious political sanction the bloc can impose on a member country — the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions.
Thoughts on this? The article also talks about the possibility of backlash could spur anti-EU sentiment.
On the other hand though, Orbán seems to be really testing the limits of what the EU will tolerate and of they do not do anything then that sets a bad precedent.
If Hungary were outside the EU today, there is no chance they would meet the Copenhagen criteria and be permitted to join in the first place. Orban has destroyed democracy and the rule of law in Hungary - and so I don't see much wrong with recognising that obvious fact through Article 7. Right now Orban is actively colluding with a violent enemy of Europe and to not take steps to prevent him from undermining European security would be a failure of EU governance.
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