Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is set to attend a European Parliament plenary session schedule for September 11th to discuss the civil liberties committee’s report on the rule of law in Hungary.
According to Magyar Idők, the EP is scheduled to vote on the report on the day after the plenary session takes place.
In spring 2017, the EP’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) was asked to prepare a report on Hungary with a view to holding an EP vote on launching the first steps of Article 7, which suspends voting rights.
In the report, rapporteur and Green MEP Judith Sargentini said there was a “clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values of the European Union,” which she said warranted launching the Article 7 procedure.
The report also warned of a curbing of rights in Hungary. The committee adopted the report this June, with 37 votes in favor and 19 against.
A letter sent to MEPs explaining the Hungarian government’s stance on the report has had no effect, the paper said.
PM Orbán has previously said the report could be considered a “Soros report”, aimed at pressuring Hungary to change its standpoint on the issue of migration, “but that will not happen”. Since its drafting, the mandatory quota system “has been taken off the agenda”, with a growing number of countries backing Hungary’s view, he said.