Bangladesh, April 14 -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has renewed her call to abolish the veto power held by individual European Union member states in foreign policy decisions, arguing that the bloc can no longer afford paralysis in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment. Her remarks come at a pivotal political moment, just hours after the electoral defeat of long-time Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, whose government frequently used the unanimity rule to block EU initiatives.

Von der Leyens proposal centers on replacing unanimity voting with qualified majority voting (QMV) in foreign policy matters. Under the current system, all 27 member states must agree before the EU can take unified action on majo...