Hungary’s Orban Escalates Democracy Fight With EU Commission
- EU Vice President Jourova called Hungary a ‘sick democracy’
- Development may make it harder to reach coronavirus aid deal
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A polarizing battle inside the European Union to tie funding to the rule-of-law got personal after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban demanded the official charged with upholding those norms be sacked for calling his country a “sick democracy.”
The resignation of European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova is “indispensable,” Orban wrote in a letter to the head of the EU’s executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen. Until she leaves, Hungary will suspend “all bilateral political contacts” with Jourova, according to the letter published Tuesday.