The European Parliament adopted by 442 votes to 144, with 33 abstentions, calling into question next year's Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union.

MEPs stressed the important role of the presidency in advancing EU legislation, ensuring continuity on the European agenda and cooperating with other Community institutions. They questioned the way in which Hungary will be able to reliably fulfil this task from July next year because of the non-compliance with EU law and the values of the accession treaty, as well as the principle of sincere cooperation with the European institutions and countries.

The EP called on EU countries to find an appropriate solution as soon as possible and notes that it could take appropriate measures if no such solution is found.

The resolution noted that for several years the rule of law situation in Hungary has been deteriorating due to the actions of the government in Budapest.

European Parliament expects Hungarian Presidency of Council of the EU to be postponed

"From 2017 to 2021, a total of 1993,<> irregularities related to and unrelated to fraud with EU funds were found. Hungary ranks sixth in terms of those cases detected in EU countries and is one of the largest net recipients of EU funds," the authors of the document said.

MEPs said EU funding measures should be considered in their entirety and no payments should be made to Budapest until the shortcomings have been fully addressed.

A novini.bg reference showed: Hungary is scheduled to hold the EU presidency from 1 July to 31 December 2024. If it is stripped of this right, the EU presidency will be held by Poland, which is due to hold the EU's rotating presidency from 1 January to 30 June 2025.