Fidesz MEP fears censorship from Brussels, says sanctions ruin Europe

Giving European Union institutions a right to interfere with, censor or ban election campaigns of member states is “unacceptable”, a Fidesz MEP said on the sidelines of the plenary session of the European Parliament on Thursday. Sanctions against Russia imposed in response to the war in Ukraine have failed to end the war and are threatening to “ruin Europe,” the same Fidesz MEP said in Brussels.

Fidesz MEP protests against ‘EU right to censor member state election campaigns’

The EP is voting on a proposal on the transparency of political activities on Thursday. The proposal aims to facilitate obtaining information on campaign sponsors and the payments made, among others. The proposal would also review regulations on the periods immediately before elections and referendums.

Tamás Deutsch said that while “almost all EU institutions are mired in corruption … bureaucrats are trying to force legislation that would make it impossible to talk about corruption in Brussels at all.”

The proposal would enable EU institutions to censor the topics of all election campaigns in all member states, he warned. Defining the participants, topics and tone of election campaigns is in the hands of member states, and EU interference is “unacceptable”, he said.

The Fidesz delegation will vote against the proposal, as it “curbs freedom rights and democracy”, he said.

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Deutsch: Sanctions against Russia ‘ruining Europe’

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a European parliamentary plenary, Tamás Deutsch said the EP was planning to accept a resolution on a blanket ban on Russian energy resources, bringing about “the immediate economic collapse of EU member states”, he warned. Fidesz MEPs will boycott the vote, he said.

The EU has accepted nine sanction packages against Russia since the war began, all of which have failed to end the war while stoking inflation and triggering an economic and energy crisis, he said. Deutsch called for an end to “suicidal sanctions policy and a return to common sense”. The bloc should strive for a ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

He called it “unacceptable” that the EP resolution had failed to address Ukraine’s legislation on ethnic minorities which, he said, harmed the rights of all minorities in the country. The Fidesz MEP said he hoped that EU representatives would address the issue at the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Friday.

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Earlier on Thursday, Johannes Hahn, the budget and administration commissioner, said the EU had allocated a further EUR 400 million for supporting Ukraine. Fully EUR 100 million will be used as humanitarian aid, and 300 million will boost bilateral cooperation, Hahn said.

The funding will be announced at a Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv on Friday, Hahn said.

At the plenary session, Deutsch said Hungary had been supporting Ukraine beyond its means since the start of the war, and has accepted some 1 million refugees. Hungary has always condemned the Russian attack and stood by Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, he said.

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Source: MTI