EU court rebukes Hungary over UN cannabis vote

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has proclaimed a "zero tolerance" drug policy, and during a 2020 session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it voted against removing cannabis from a list also including deadly opioids like heroin.

The EU's executive body, the European Commission, brought an infringement proceeding against Hungary, arguing the country had gone against the bloc's position adopted by the qualified majority of member states.

The case ended up in the Court of Justice of the European Union, which ruled in favour of the European Commission, finding that "Hungary failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law".

The court said drug classification fell "within the European Union's exclusive competence".

"Hungary, which cannot argue that that common position is unlawful, infringed the European Union's exclusive external competence in that field, and acted in breach of the principle of sincere cooperation," the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement.

"Under the principle of sincere cooperation, the member states are required to facilitate the achievement of the European Union's tasks and must abstain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of common objectives," it added.

Hungary reacted to the ruling by condemning "drug liberalisation efforts" as "misguided and dangerous", saying it would not change its stance.

"We will not bow to any pressure that would interfere with our national drug policy or lead the country towards drug liberalisation," the government said in a statement sent to AFP.

Under Orban, the central European country of 9.5 million people is frequently at loggerheads with Brussels on an array of issues, ranging from legal disputes to foreign policy disagreements.