Hungary Plans to Block EU Sanctions on Tucker Carlson

(LibertySociety.com) – Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked outrage across the world. Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, virtually no media outlets have expressed any interest in getting Putin’s side of the story.

Carlson decided to allow him to make his case to the world and allow people to decide for themselves whether he was being truthful. American media personalities accused Carlson of siding with Russia and giving Putin a large platform to spread propaganda. Carlson released a video before the interview, justifying his decision by pointing out that the world has only seen and heard the prescribed mainstream media narrative. He also made clear that he was not asking people to believe anything that Putin said during the interview.

Now the former prime minister of Belgium and current member of the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, wants Carlson to be sanctioned by the European Union (EU). Verhofstadt told Newsweek that “it seems logical that the External Action Service examine his case as well” since Putin is considered to be a war criminal by the EU. He noted that the EU imposes sanctions on individuals who assist war criminals, indicating that he believes Carlson fits into that category. The process for sanctioning individuals begins with evidence provided to the External Action Service, which conducts diplomacy for the EU. Josep Borrell, a Spanish socialist politician, currently presides over the External Action Service. After the review, the European Council would be required to decide whether to impose sanctions.

The likelihood of Carlson being sanctioned is slim, given that a single veto from an EU member state would quash the effort. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s political director Balázs Orbán posted about the idea of sanctioning Carlson on X, formerly Twitter. He emphatically wrote, “Don’t bother trying – we won’t let it happen!” The news of Hungary’s intent to shut down the effort will likely embolden Verhofstadt and Borrell to continue their pursuit of ending EU member state veto powers.