Hungarian parliament passes resolution condemning Sargentini report

Lawmakers on Tuesday passed a resolution that calls on the government “not to give into blackmail” when it comes to the Sargentini report that concludes Hungary is in danger of breaching the core values of the European Union.

MPs approved the resolution with 129 votes in favour, 26 against and 18 abstentions.

The Sargentini report, so called because of its rapporteur, the Dutch Green MEP Judith Sargentini, was approved by the European Parliament last month. It called for the launch of an Article 7 procedure, which could ultimately strip Hungary of its EU voting rights, citing the “existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded”.

The resolution, submitted to parliament by Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Fidesz group leader Máté Kocsis, says that

the Sargentini report “attacked the decisions taken by the democratically elected Parliament of Hungary“. The report has “exceeded its jurisdiction and violated Hungary’s sovereignty,” it adds.

The resolution also calls on the government to take legal measures against the “fraudulently approved” report.

“We reject the mendacious, slanderous pro-migration indictments made in the Sargentini report,” it says. “We reject the report because it attacks Hungary on the grounds that it did not take in migrants, refused to accept [mandatory resettlement] quotas, closed its border and criminalised the organisation of illegal migration.”

The Sargentini report was approved by the EP on September 12 with 448 votes in favour, 197 against and 48 abstentions.

Socialist group leader Bertalan Tóth told a press conference before the vote that the government’s “counter-Sargentini report contains all components of its propaganda but no element of truth”. He interpreted the parliamentary resolution as a document describing the Sargentini report as a “pro-migration” document reflecting the wish of the European Parliament’s “pro-migration majority” aimed at “making the continent a migrant destination”.

Gergely Karácsony, co-leader of opposition Párbeszéd, said that the European criticism over the Hungarian government was justified and argued that Hungary would not meet the EU’s entry criteria if it applied for membership now.

Source: MTI