STRASBOURG, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Parliament on Wednesday has backed a resolution calling on European Union (EU) member states to trigger Article 7 procedures against Hungary in order to prevent the risk of a "serious breach of European values".

This is the first time the European Parliament has taken the initiative on Article 7 procedures, which was previously triggered once, against Poland, in December 2017.

Article 7 of the EU treaty is a mechanism for the EU to steer wayward members back towards the values on which the world's largest trading bloc were founded, including respect for freedom, democracy and the rule of law.