The European Commission decided to officially trigger a mechanism meant to punish rule-of-law violations within the European Union, Politico reported on Wednesday. The move follows a ruling by the European Court of Justice that the EU has the right to cut funding to member states that violate its principles, as well as urging from the European Parliament.
The mechanism will be used against Hungary, an unnamed EU official said, citing "serious concerns" about the misuse of funding received from the union. Other officials said the decision to sanction Hungary, but not Poland, came from "rampant high-level corruption and lack of proper prosecution of graft in Hungary."
