Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, is president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament. The opinions in this article are those of the author.

(CNN) When I addressed Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, I did not go so far as the late, great, John McCain, who once described Orbán as "a neofascist in bed with Putin."

However, I certainly would not have disagreed with Mr. McCain's analysis in 2014. If anything, the situation regarding the rule of law and democracy in Hungary has since deteriorated.

In a historic vote on Wednesday, over two-thirds of members of the European Parliament voted to trigger soon Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts the process of sanctioning the Hungarian government in light of its growing authoritarian and anti-democratic behavior, which could eventually lead to the suspension of Hungary's voting rights in the European Union.

In an extensive analysis of the situation in Hungary, the report by European lawmakers expressed serious concerns about the deterioration of the rule of law and democracy in the country, marking the culmination of years of futile dialogue between the EU and Hungary.

Since 2010, Viktor Orbán has passed laws that suffocate the free press, politicize Hungary's judiciary and demonize nongovernmental organizations. Shamefully, he has echoed anti-Semitic themes and targeted the international, highly respected Central European University.

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