Hungary has announced its intention to defy the pressure of the EU before an unprecedented vote

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday before the European Parliament that he would not give in to EU "blackmail" while lawmakers were ready to vote to punish Budapest for the erosion of democracy.

Since taking office in 2010, Orban has lobbied the Hungarian courts, media and non-governmental groups and refused to admit asylum seekers arriving in Europe. Although the European Union has often protested, it has largely failed to stop what its critics see as its growing authoritarianism.

It is far from certain that the 751-strong European Parliament will be able to convene on Wednesday the two-thirds majority required to adopt the motion of censure, which accuses Hungary of violating the EU's fundamental values.

If approved, the motion would theoretically pave the way for sanctions such as suspension of Hungary's voting rights in the EU – but in practice, it will certainly be blocked by Orban's ally, the government nationalist in Poland.

Speaking directly to European lawmakers in Strasbourg, Mr Orban called Wednesday's vote an act of revenge for his refusal to accommodate refugees fleeing the Middle East and Africa. from North to Europe since 2015.

"Hungary will not accept this blackmail. If need be, we will defend you, "said Orban, whose far-right party, Fidesz, was re-elected with an overwhelming majority last April.

"Hungary will be condemned (by this motion) because the Hungarian people decided that their country would not be a country of migrants," said Orban, to the applause of eurosceptic lawmakers and the far-right of l & # 39; assembly.

Orban said refugees, mostly Muslim, posed an existential threat to European Christian civilization. He also waged a virulent campaign against the American Jewish billionaire of Hungarian origin George Soros and his liberal causes in formerly communist Eastern Europe.

LARGE CRITICISM

The motion against Orban Hungary goes well beyond the issue of migration.

The deputy head of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, said Tuesday that he shared the concerns of its authors regarding "fundamental rights, corruption, treatment of the Roma and the independence of the judiciary" in Hungary under Orban.

Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, a leading liberal, said that Hungary would never have been allowed to join the EU in 2004 if it had been at the time as under Orban. The group of leftists and greens of the assembly declared: "The authoritarian movements of Orban must be limited".

Dutch MEP Sophie 't Veld urged the EU to consider cutting generous subsidies to Hungary by asking: "Why are we giving Orban € 87 million a week to destroy the European Union?

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that even the five European legislators of his party would vote against Budapest.

"We think there can be no compromise on the rule of law and democracy," Kurz told ORF television.

But Italian anti-immigration minister Matteo Salvini said the six EU lawmakers of his League party would support Oran in Wednesday's vote.

Both the Kurz and Orban parties belong to the largest faction of the European Parliament, the European People's Party (EPP), which also includes MPs from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Joining the EPP has tainted the EU's response to Orban's policy over the years and the big question mark is what the 217 members of the group will now do.

The vote represents a particular challenge for EPP leader Manfred Weber, a German, since he announced his bid for the presidency of the European Union's Executive Board next year.

On Tuesday, Mr Weber said the EU might need to consider launching the sanctions procedure, in line with Article 7.1 of the Lisbon Treaty, if Budapest did not respond to criticism.

But Weber, a close ally of Merkel, also mentioned the "building bridges" with Hungary and stressed that the European Union had not taken action in a similar case concerning Poland.