War of words: Hungary slams EU ‘inquisition’ into sovereignty and rule of law

A meeting between the National Sovereignty Protection Authority and a delegation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has shown that “there is a show trial under way” against Hungary and its law on the protection of sovereignty, the authority said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ahead of the meeting with Tamás Lánczi, the head of the delegation had “refused to have a video and voice recording made of it to give Hungarian and European citizens a credible and accurate picture of the meeting,” the statement said.

“The delegation kept repeating accusations by USAID and the [European] Commission and refused to give substantial answers to the questions or proposals” of Lánczi, the statement said.

The authority also said that “the operation of the so-called fact-finding committee is also hypocritical as the European Commission has already launched an infringement procedure against Hungary, with the support of the European Parliament.”

Further, one of the committee members has recently given a speech at a “Budapest party event, and now they are posing as an impartial investigator,” it said.

“The visit has shown that there is a coordinated political intervention under way against Hungary. The Sovereignty Protection Office will not cave to pressure and will continue to unveil foreign interference,” it said.

During the three-day visit, the delegation reviewed topics connected to the EU’s fundamental values, and met members of local authorities, NGOs, the media, the judiciary, representatives of the government, as well as lawmakers.

Delegation head Tineke Strik, a Dutch MEP of the Greens, said that “the first victim” of the Hungarian legislation curbing the freedom of assembly would be the Budapest Pride.

Strik called on the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to put temporary measures in place to ensure that the Pride March can be held lawfully and peacefully. She said “plans of the Hungarian head of government to curb non-governmental activities, especially regarding the right of assembly and the freedom of opinion, and the fundamental values of the EU”.

The Sovereignty Protection Office and the relevant law have been set up to prevent foreign interference, she noted. “While this aim is legitimate, we see in practice that the office is targeting journalists and NGOs who are monitoring compliance with EU law.”