BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen waited less than a day after Hungary voted Viktor Orbán out of office to call for the EU to get more power over national governments to force through foreign policy decisions.
Governments should be able to push through EU policies ― on issues that could include sanctions on Russia and funds for Ukraine ― by majority rather than allowing individual nations to wield a veto, she told reporters in Brussels. Under Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister for 16 years, Hungary has often blocked foreign policy decisions.
“Moving to qualified majority voting in foreign policy is an important way to avoid systemic blockages, as we have seen in the past,” she said. She urged governments, which would have to agree to any change, to “use the momentum now.”
Any change would be highly controversial, with even some typically pro-EU countries likely to balk at the prospect of losing control of foreign policy and facing the possibility of having to wave through decisions they oppose.
The Commission would move quickly to engage with the incoming Hungarian government once it takes office, noting that incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar had signaled a clear pro-European direction during the campaign.
“We can already see that [he] is very clear on the European path … committing the new government to continue working with us,” she said, adding that progress on EU funds and reforms would be a priority because “the Hungarian people deserve it.”
Von der Leyen welcomed the outcome of Hungary’s elections, calling it “a day to celebrate” and said the EU was stronger and more united as a result.
“The people of Hungary have spoken and they have reclaimed their European task,” she said. “It is a victory for fundamental freedoms.”
Orbán, the EU’s most autocratic leader — a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — lost by a decisive margin in Sunday’s vote, amid the highest turnout in Hungary’s democratic history.
“There is much work to be done. Hungary is coming back to the European part,” von der Leyen said.
