Olivér Várhelyi: Europe’s under-fire gatekeeper

As EU leaders prepare to meet their Western Balkan counterparts on Wednesday, they might want to ask the European Commission’s point man for an impartial view of the region’s efforts to meet democratic standards and one day join the bloc.

Then again, they might not.

According to more than a dozen officials from multiple institutions and an analysis of internal documents, European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has overseen a push to play down concerns about the rule of law and human rights in candidates for EU membership.

And although the Hungarian diplomat is meant to produce even-handed assessments of all would-be members, he’s pushing the candidacy of one country above all: Serbia — despite the fact that Belgrade has failed to make progress on key issues and even regressed on some, according to democracy watchdogs.

The approach of Várhelyi, the European commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement, on both the Western Balkans and Turkey is out of step with many EU countries. It also contrasts sharply with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s instructions when he was appointed in 2019.

“The respect for human rights and the rule of law should be the foundations for our international cooperation,” von der Leyen wrote to Várhelyi in his assignment letter.

However, Várhelyi’s stance does match with the agenda of one EU government — his own.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has repeatedly dismissed EU institutions’ views on the rule of law and democracy, above all when it comes to criticism of his own rule. He has championed the EU aspirations of Serbia, Hungary’s southern neighbor, ruled by his ally, President Aleksandar Vučić. Both men have been widely accused of authoritarian tendencies.

Whether Várhelyi’s efforts will make much difference to the prospects of Serbia or any other country is open to question. EU members make the big decisions on enlargement and, as wrangling to agree even a bland statement for Wednesday’s summit with Western Balkan leaders in Slovenia showed, there is little enthusiasm among them for expanding the club any time soon.

But his stance risks damaging the standing of the Commission among EU governments and the credibility of the European Union among leaders in the Western Balkans, a region of key strategic importance to the bloc, where Russia, China, Turkey and Gulf states are all seeking to increase their influence.

‘Voldemort of enlargement’

Várhelyi, who previously served as Hungary’s ambassador to the EU, declined to be interviewed for this article. In written answers to questions, he defended his record, including on the rule of law. He noted that he had overseen a revamp of the Commission’s methodology for assessing candidate countries that put greater focus on rule of law.

But other European Commission officials, EU diplomats and members of the European Parliament don’t buy such protestations.

Várhelyi “undermines the credibility of the Commission in the eyes of partners and member states,” said one Commission official, who requested anonymity out of fear of the professional repercussions of criticizing a European commissioner.

The Hungarian commissioner holding the enlargement portfolio “clearly weakens the EU Western Balkans policy in the long term and makes one question the claims of this being a geopolitical Commission,” the official added.

An EU diplomat said Várhelyi had made speeches to EU ambassadors and ministers that “had no resemblance to the reality from the point of view of member states.”

A second diplomat described the commissioner as “the Voldemort of EU enlargement.”

“He follows the agenda of his masters in Budapest, cozies up to authoritarian leaders and largely ignores issues related to the rule of law,” the diplomat said.

At the European Parliament, Austrian Social Democratic MEP Andreas Schieder stressed “rule-of-law enforcement is a key issue,” for the Western Balkans, yet “the Commission — and especially Commissioner Várhelyi — is not giving a strong impetus on this issue.”

Dutch Green MEP Tineke Strik also said she was not impressed by Várhelyi’s approach.

“I really miss the rule of law,” she said. “I don’t see him speaking out on Serbia, for instance, where there’s no progress at all.”

Belgrade’s booster

The Hungarian commissioner has made clear to his own staff that he wants to boost Belgrade’s campaign for EU membership.

“Commissioner Várhelyi has made it a priority to accelerate the enlargement negotiations with Serbia,” Maciej Popowski, acting head of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), wrote in an email to staff in February.

“While this depends first and foremost, on reforms in Serbia, we need to be ready to move forward on the EU side as soon as Serbia demonstrates the necessary progress.”

But Várhelyi’s team is not just relying on Belgrade to up its game. His cabinet — an inner circle of hand-picked aides — has tried to delete or water down language in official texts about Serbia’s democratic failings, according to officials and internal documents.

Those efforts stand in contrast to multiple assessments of the state of the rule of law in Serbia from NGOs and independent analysts.

NGO Freedom House rated Serbia as “partly free” in its 2021 Freedom in the World index, writing that the “ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has steadily eroded political rights and civil liberties, putting pressure on independent media, the political opposition, and civil society organizations.”

Although Serbia has been in EU accession negotiations since 2014, it ranks alongside other Western Balkan countries in the index that have not yet even started membership talks, such as Albania and North Macedonia.

In the latest Democracy Index, an annual survey carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Serbia recorded its lowest score in the history of the index, which began in 2006.

Yet, according to two Commission officials, Várhelyi’s cabinet upgraded the assessment of Serbia to give a more positive view of rule-of-law issues in this year’s draft enlargement report, which reviews candidate countries’ progress and is currently being prepared.

Asked about changes to the Serbia assessment, Várhelyi said in an email that “the assessment of the progress of the countries on the EU reform path is subject to a long process, with a final decision made by the College [of Commissioners] as a collegial body.”

He said it was a political process, as befitted a “geopolitical Commission” and that “the EU priorities in the Western Balkans are fully reflected in the report.”

But this is not the only time the commissioner’s cabinet has sought to override expert opinion on Serbia.

In June this year, Várhelyi’s department also pushed back against a description of the Commission’s own assessment of the rule of law in Serbia as “grim” by the European Court of Auditors, an EU watchdog, according to a document sent to the court.

And Várhelyi himself complained in a cover letter about “a series of quotes of certain scholars” in the auditors’ report and asked the watchdog to reconsider using them.

But while Várhelyi was not keen on academic experts being quoted in an official report, he has been happy to offer his own upbeat view on Belgrade’s record.

“It is quite clear that in Serbia the reform process has gotten new impetus,” he declared to Hungarian pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet in an interview last month.

Under the EU’s accession process, candidate countries work with the Commission to meet EU standards in different policy “chapters,” which are grouped into clusters such as the internal market, green agenda and fundamental reforms.

Commission staff say there has been a push to move too quickly on Serbia. 

“There was a lot of pressure” to open new clusters for Serbia, said a second Commission official, noting that staff were “asked to cut corners” and “fast-track” work. 

The first  EU diplomat supported that assertion. The commissioner “pressured to open clusters and chapters” on Serbia when the necessary work had not been done.

Asked how he responded to criticism that he has pushed forward Serbia’s candidacy despite a lack of sufficient progress, Várhelyi replied: “I am pushing forward the enlargement agenda for the whole of the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.”

Pushback pressure

Várhelyi’s approach has triggered pushback from other parts of the European Commission — especially on the rule of law.

Three officials said the Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers gave a “negative opinion” on this year’s draft enlargement report. The move was mostly due to concern that Serbia’s progress was portrayed too positively, two of the officials said.

A third Commission official said that in internal notes on Serbia this year, an assessment approved by the Várhelyi cabinet was amended by other officials to include tougher wording on Belgrade’s lack of concrete progress on rule-of-law reforms.

Multiple officials said DG NEAR staff have made calls to colleagues in other departments asking them to push back against DG NEAR’s own policy drafts.

But officials say that pressure from other parts of the Commission has not proven a complete counter to Várhelyi’s approach. 

Other departments “push back” on changes, “but they can’t fight with Várhelyi on every single issue every time there’s a document,” said the first Commission official.

Asked about the negative opinion from DG Justice, Várhelyi said that “internal processes are still ongoing” on the latest enlargement summary and that “the final decision will be made by the College as a collegial body and will represent the Commission’s opinion.”

Civil society groups, meanwhile, have struggled to make their voices heard. A representative of a major human rights organization said it had “lost hope” of being able to get in touch with Várhelyi.

The representative, who requested anonymity to avoid damaging working relationships with the Commission, said the organization “used to get all the meetings we wanted” when Várhelyi’s predecessor, Johannes Hahn of Austria, held the enlargement post.

“At this point, we’re not expecting much. He’s never going to prioritize the rule of law, which is at the heart of his portfolio. We gave up,” the representative said.

Macedonian questions

Commission officials, EU diplomats and MEPs have also expressed frustration with Várhelyi’s approach to another candidate country, North Macedonia.

The country has undertaken major steps to begin EU membership talks, even changing its name to end a dispute with Greece that had blocked its progress for decades. Together with Albania, North Macedonia got the green light to start negotiations last year, only for those talks to be blocked by Bulgaria due to a dispute over language and history.

Critics accuse Várhelyi of not working as an honest broker to resolve the dispute and unlock the membership talks.

The first EU diplomat said Várhelyi “made unhelpful proposals to Bulgaria that most member states had already rejected.”

The second EU diplomat said ending the North Macedonia impasse should be “the most important file” for Várhelyi but he had made “no progress.”

Várhelyi also caused consternation earlier this year when he floated the idea that Albania should be allowed to start membership talks without North Macedonia.

“This was an absolutely wrong and fatal signal, because both countries had met all the criteria for starting accession talks. Why this unequal treatment? This two-speed advance would have meant a punishment for North Macedonia,” said Romeo Franz, a German Green MEP.

“It is a fact that the [Hungarian] prime minister, Orbán, supports the national-conservative opposition of North Macedonia. This was proven when the Hungarian government granted asylum to the former head of the North Macedonian government, Nikola Gruevski,” he said via email.

Asked about criticism that his stance has been too pro-Bulgarian in the dispute, Várhelyi cited praise from North Macedonia’s prime minister for his efforts to help the country. He said he was working hard to allow membership talks for Albania and North Macedonia to get underway.

Turkey tactics

The commissioner’s approach to the Turkish authorities — who enjoy a close relationship with the Hungarian government — has also raised concerns among European officials. 

Várhelyi’s “only objective” when it comes to Turkey is to “keep migrants out” and “avoid criticism of Turkey’s policies on civil society and media,” said a DG NEAR staffer.

Internal documents show that Várhelyi and his cabinet have sought to shift both the Commission’s assessment of Turkey and its policies toward Ankara. 

In edits, seen by POLITICO, to a draft report on Turkey, the cabinet crossed out a line noting that “hate speech and smear campaigns by government officials and media against the LGBTI community increased.”

That mirrored a similar move in a draft of the broader enlargement summary in 2020, where a cabinet member said a line noting that “more needs to be done to address discrimination, hate speech and violence” against LGBTQ+ individuals is “to be deleted” because “it is already covered in the progress reports, no need to name it here.” 

Asked whether his cabinet sought to remove language on LGBTQ+ rights from Commission documents, Várhelyi said that “last year’s enlargement package had 58 references to the need for the protection of LGBTI people.”

“The overall Communication pointed out that gender-based violence, discrimination, hate speech against minorities, hate crime and violations of human rights LGBTI persons are still a matter of serious concern,” the commissioner said. 

The cabinet also sought to cut out lines regarding concerns about a 2020 law that gave the Turkish government new powers over social media content, the draft Turkey report shows. And it deleted references to “a large number of investigations, detentions and arrests of activists and human rights defenders.”

Meanwhile, Várhelyi himself has pushed Commission President von der Leyen to reset relations with Ankara — despite tensions between Turkey and multiple EU members — and cited migration as one reason for doing so.

In a letter to von der Leyen, dated September 9 and seen by POLITICO, Várhelyi proposed establishing a new “Turkish Investment Platform” and wrote that “the Turkish authorities are keen to cooperate with the EU on Syria, including on voluntary, safe and dignified returns to the ‘safe zones.’”

“I find it opportune to positively consider this offer,” he wrote.

Demoralized DG

Under Várhelyi’s leadership, some DG NEAR senior staff have left their posts and others have become demoralized, according to officials.

“The atmosphere within the DG is very strange,” said a second DG NEAR official. 

The unit currently has an acting director-general, acting director for the Western Balkans and acting director for Neighborhood South and Turkey. 

The problem, the first staffer said, is that most employees “have a strong commitment to values” and now there is a “disconnect” between those values and the cabinet’s stance.

Várhelyi, the staffer said, is on a “completely different planet.” 

For his part, Várhelyi said he highly appreciates the work of all DG NEAR staff and praised their dedication.

Eric Mamer, a spokesperson for von der Leyen, said Várhelyi “has the full confidence” of the Commission president.

He added that Várhelyi implemented policies that were defined by the whole College of Commissioners and that von der Leyen was in regular contact with him.

Jacopo Barigazzi and Andrew Gray contributed reporting.