Parties ready to approve draft for constitutional amendment on terror, says minister

Budapest, April 22 (MTI) – Hungary’s political parties held another round of talks on Friday on changing the constitution to allow the authorities to handle a potential terrorist threat.

Defence Minister István Simicskó said text for the bill would allow the government to secure a “terror emergency” in the case of a terrorist attack or a “serious, direct terrorist threat” with a two-thirds majority in parliament. A maximum of 15 days would be available to put special measures in place, including deploying the military, he said.

The minister said it was regrettable that the opposition Socialists had not taken part in the talks but they would also be sent a copy of the bill in its latest form. The bill should be ready for submission by the ruling Fidesz parliamentary next week.

Lajos Kósa, the head of Fidesz’s parliamentary group, told a press conference after the multi-party talks that the bill is necessary to allay fears about the powers of the police in itself being insufficient to handle such situations as a terror emergency.