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.”
“It is problematic that EU funding is apparently perceived as foreign interference, and that this objective seems to be merely used to crack down on civil society,” she said.
Regarding the judiciary, Strik said the recent reforms were putting courts’ independence at risk.
Belgian MEP Sophie Wilmes of the Renew party family said that after meeting members of the Hungarian media, their concerns grew as to the pluralism and diversity of information. “We know that 80 percent of all market revenues are channelled to government media … this serves to amplify the government narrative while simultaneously weakening, destabilising and pressuring independent media outlets into abandoning critical positions.” She said that the freedom of information was limited in Hungary, and independent journalists had difficulties in accessing information and public data.
“Government propaganda frequently includes … a very aggressive rhetoric,” she said, adding that the delegation had first-hand experience of that in talks with authorities.
Michal Wawrykiewicz of the European People’s Party said that members of the delegation agreed that the situation had deteriorated in Hungary, saying there was “an open denial of the rule of law”. He said judiciary independence had deteriorated, and insisted that the government was intentionally neglecting to implement “a huge number of key ruling of the European courts.”
He said the principle of sincere cooperation, “which is also called loyalty to the European Union, requires that member states … adopt all necessary measures to fulfil their obligations under the treaties…” The Hungarian government has a duty to implement all rulings of the EU courts, he said.
Leftist MEP Pernando Barrenza Arza said the situation of the rule of law had deteriorated since the last committee visit in 2021. “Entry into Hungary is practically impossible for migrants and asylum seekers,” he said. He accused the ruling parties of having introduced “a tyranny of the majority” and of trampling on minority rights. “The impunity of the Hungarian government in circumventing EU law … needs to be stopped,” he said.
Read also: