The European Commission is likely to initiate an infringement procedure against Hungary on Thursday concerning its recently passed “Stop Soros” package of laws, MTI learnt from EU officials on Wednesday.
As a first step the commission will send a letter of formal notice concerning the laws, which the body has found problematic in various ways. The Hungarian authorities will then have one or two months to respond to the concerns.
If the government’s response it not forthcoming or unsatisfactory, the commission will send a reasoned opinion as a second step and then escalate the matter to the European Court of Justice, if necessary.
The Hungarian parliament passed the contested laws in June, aimed at penalising the “promotion or organisation of illegal migration”.
The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe earlier criticised some passages in the new legislation, arguing that they would seriously hinder the operation of legitimate civil groups.
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz said that “Brussels is again championing Soros” and “trying to put Hungary under pressure”.
The European Commission is “strongly influenced by the Soros network and promotes its pro-migration policy”, János Halász, Fidesz’s parliamentary spokesman, said. He argued that scrapping laws under which migrants cannot be settled in the country would “obviously” serve the interests of “the Soros network and allied Brussels politicians” who continue their efforts to “flood Europe with migrants for reasons of political and financial speculation”.
“We insist that Hungary will not be a migrant destination and we cannot accept that migrants are openly encouraged to bypass European and Hungarian laws,” Halász added.
Featured image: www.facebook.com/MagyarországKormánya
Source: MTI
4 comments
George Soros, his hypocrisy, money vulture and bribery
The European Union is about to be hit by a major financial crisis, says billionaire investor George Soros, who spoke at the European Council’s annual council on foreign relations and said that Europe was in an ‘existential crisis’. Soros, the founder of the pro-European Open Society Foundation with active director Mabel Wippe Smit (‘Princess of Orange’), claimed that there are essentially 3 problems that have hindered the economic development of Europe. In a speech entitled ‘How to save Europe’, Soros outlined the 3 challenges – 1/ refugee crisis, 2/ territorial changes (such as Brexit) and 3/ economic struggle as a result of austerity policy. He said: The EU is in an existential crisis. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Maybe we are heading for another big financial crisis. Actually, it would have to stop that, because undoubtedly that is what Soros has been thinking about for a long time as a wild fluttering vulture hunted above. Soros – the legendary currency speculator, investor, philanthropist, political activist, liar and author – was the famous currency trader who, by speculation, hit the Bank of England and cashed $ 1 billion in 1992. But he is also a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton and again lost $ 1 billion when the stock market prices skyrocketed after the stunning victory of Donald Trump. Soros said the best option for Europe to solve the current problems would be to tackle the refugee crisis and to abolish regulation that dictates the number of refugees that each country should take up. Soros said: Member states should not be forced to accept refugees they do not want and refugees should not be forced to settle in countries they do not want to go to. Much more hypocrisy is hardly imaginable, because Soros, by his Austrian errand, Gerald Knaus, the boss of the Soros-funded European Stability Initiative (the originator of the non-functioning EU/Sauer – Turkey deal), is a proponent of unlimited admission of fortune seekers. It is noteworthy that Soros was a strong supporter of refugees or migrants who were traveling freely to the European Union for Brexit. Now he wants the EU to protect its external borders but keep it open for legal migrants. He now wants the EU to accommodate all types of refugees or migrants, whether they are illegal or legal. Soros himself donated only € 475,000 to an anti-Brexit group. He described the decision of Britain to leave the EU as a ‘very harmful process for both parties’. He was one of many who had predicted that Brexit would never succeed, simply because the election figures showed that Britons would vote to stay with the EU. Of course, the billionaire was humbled after the British had voted to leave. In order to prevent ‘territorial disintegration’, Soros therefore proposed that Brussels would transform the EU into an association that countries want to join. He said that the EU must accept that the euro as a currency has many unsolved problems and that the dual status of euro zone and non-eurozone countries must be brought to an end. Soros admitted that it was wrong that countries were forced to obediently integrate within the framework of the multi-speed Europe initiative. Instead, the Member States of the European Union should be given the choice of their political and economic direction in the context of the idea of a ‘multi-track Europe’. Otherwise there would be hatred among the members to remain part of the group. He also said that the addiction to austerity of the EU and especially Germany (Wolfgang Schäuble, the former Minister of Finance) had damaged the euro and aggravated the European crisis. Soros believes that the austerity policy also led to people feeling excluded, a mood sparked by populist politicians in countries such as Italy and Austria. Italy was in crisis at the time when pro-European President Sergio Mattarella refused to accept the nomination of EU candidate Paolo Savona as Minister of Economic Affairs. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. It is no longer a figure of speech to say that Europe is in danger of life; it is the harsh reality – says Soros. In addition to the 3 internal problems facing the EU, a rising dollar and a capital flight from emerging markets can help trigger a new ‘big’ financial crisis. Since Italian bond yields have risen to record highs due to the political crisis, Soros also pointed to the ‘termination’ of the nuclear agreement between the US and Iran, as well as the ‘destruction’ of the trans-Atlantic alliance between the EU and the US as the multiplier effect that will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the European economy. George Soros clearly admits that the arrogant EU must get rid of its ‘outdated’ legislation, making certain countries feel like second-class or inferior citizens of the group. Countries such as Germany and France must adopt a more humble attitude and should not play down their ‘superior’ views. That Soros, with its scheming and unwanted interference in the affairs of other countries such as Hungary where his activities have now been banned, has also made the EU a prey is evidenced by the fact that nearly 300 EU members are simply Soros bribed. For this we let Nigel Farage speak: https://youtu.be/Y6uCGuVXBwo.
After Poland, Hungary is now threatened with proceedings with which this country can finally lose its voting rights in the European Council of Ministers. Led by GL toiletcleaner, leftist and European Parliamentarian Judith Sargentini (not a Dutch name!) a large majority of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) voted for an Article 7 procedure under the Lisbon Treaty. They are concerned about the rule of law in Hungary. Sargentini states that there is a systematic threat to change democracy, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in the country. The Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán has been given too much space to kill Hungarian democracy and the rule of law, according to this lady on 16.07.2018. The independence of the judiciary, academic freedom, space for a healthy open society, press freedom: all things that have come under pressure from Orbán. Clown Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament, reacts to the opposition: he speaks of a ‘historic event’. Verhofstadt appeals to the rest of the European Parliament – ‘regardless of political color’ – that the Fidesz Party of Orbán will no longer proceed with ‘the destruction of Hungary’. Sargentini conducted an ‘investigation’ in 2017 into the status of the constitutional state in Hungary. Based upon her conclusions, she called on European government leaders to invoke Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty. The democratic government of Orbán was already under fire in the European Parliament in May 2017, when a majority of EU parliamentarians ordered to officially establish that Hungary is violating European values. For her research, Sargentini visited Budapest and spoke with a number of experts. Various concerns are expressed in the report. For example: she questions the independent jurisdiction in Hungary, but also denounces corruption, conflicts of interest, privacy, the rights of minorities and freedom of expression and the press – just as within the EU itself. The strict immigration policy of Orbán also comes up against Sargentini’s objection. On the basis of the findings, Sargentini concludes that the Hungarian rule of law has been eroded in such a way that the country must be punished. That procedure does not come easily. In September 2018 the entire parliament still has to vote on it. 65% of the votes are needed to call on the Member States to start the procedure. Then the EU member states are ready. They must unanimously agree to the invocation of Article 7. It is expected that Poland, which itself is also struggling with an Article 7 procedure by vice-president of the European Commission Frans Timmermans (also Dutch!), will protect Hungary and Hungary indicated earlier that it vetoed such a procedure against Poland and now Poland is expected to do the same in a vote on Hungary. Earlier Poland and Hungary presented together with the other so-called Visegrád countries the Czech Republic and Slovakia a joint statement in which they called on Brussels not to interfere too much with their internal affairs. Do they have nothing else to do in the Politburo in Brussels?