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The European Union has increasingly advanced legislative proposals that are not subject to national vetoes in an effort to overcome resistance from Hungary and Slovakia, though experts warn that this approach carries political and legal risks, Euronews wrote, according to UATV English.
At this month’s EU summit, European leaders turned to a tool that until recently had seemed unthinkable: issuing joint debt backed by the EU’s common budget to support Ukraine. This allowed the bloc to avoid the requirement for unanimous approval by all member states and signaled a broader search for ways to bypass national vetoes, particularly those wielded by Hungary, which has made veto power central to its policy on Ukraine — from financial aid to EU accession talks.
To agree on joint borrowing among 24 countries, bypassing Budapest, Prague, and Bratislava, the EU invoked the principle of “enhanced cooperation” under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. More recently, Article 122 of the treaty was used, allowing a qualified majority to indefinitely block frozen Russian assets.
“We see a clear intention by EU leadership to try to bypass potential vetoes by Hungary and Slovakia and move key decisions to qualified majority voting,”
said Daniel Hegedüs, Regional Director at the German Marshall Fund.
“But I don’t think this is a win-win solution — neither legally nor politically.”
Since 2011, EU member states have used vetoes 46 times across 38 issues. Hungary has imposed the most vetoes in recent years — 19 in total, according to Euronews. Poland ranks second with seven, while Slovakia has blocked two decisions, both this year.
Most EU statements supporting Ukraine have been issued on behalf of the EU-26, excluding Hungary. However, this does not change the fact that all member states retain veto power over decisions requiring unanimity for major policy shifts.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron currently support changes to EU voting rules. Such reforms, however, would require treaty changes, which Hungary — and possibly other states — are likely to oppose. As the systematic use of vetoes has increasingly hampered EU decision-making, Brussels is now seeking more creative solutions.
An EU diplomat speaking anonymously told Euronews that the European Commission is deliberately structuring proposals to avoid unanimity requirements. One such attempt occurred in May with the launch of the REPowerEU roadmap, aimed at phasing out Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027, thereby sidestepping expected vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia.
A source within the European Commission also suggested that the EU could adopt a model similar to a “coalition of the willing” to move forward despite internal opposition. Earlier this year, European Council President António Costa proposed changing enlargement rules to accelerate the process by removing unanimity requirements for each negotiation chapter.
Still, some experts caution that bypassing dissenting member states across multiple policy areas could backfire. Hungary and Slovakia have already signaled they will challenge the REPowerEU legislation in court. The European Commission faces similar risks in using Article 122 to extend the freezing of Russian assets.
It remains unclear whether all member states would accept a gradual erosion of veto rights, which are often seen as a last line of defense for national interests. Every EU country has, at some point, threatened to use its veto, as it guarantees equal influence at the negotiating table regardless of size.
As previously reported, at the December 18–19 EU summit, leaders agreed after lengthy negotiations on a two-year financing mechanism for Ukraine, involving €90 billion in joint, interest-free borrowing from capital markets. Ukraine would only be required to repay the funds if Russia pays reparations for war damages. The decision was adopted on the condition that the debt would have no financial impact on Hungary, Slovakia, or the Czech Republic.
