Judit Varga, Minister of Justice of Hungary resigns — UPDATED

According to an unconfirmed report, Judit Varga, the minister of justice, is slated to lead Fidesz’s list in the 2024 European Parliament election and will step down from her ministerial post, the daily Magyar Nemzet said on Wednesday.

The paper carried an interview with the minister, noting that Varga did not want to confirm the report because the Fidesz leadership had yet to finalise the decision, though, she added, she definitely wanted to “represent the interests of the Hungarian people” in the EP, would join the campaign and quit her post to do so.

She said much was at stake in the EP elections, and she wanted to take an active role in forging conservative European institutions and to build multiple alliances. A “vibrant conservative movement” was growing across Europe, she said. “We must build on this.”

Varga said the left-liberal predominance in the EU “must be overturned”.

Referring to her ministerial legacy, she said two major agreements were brought about in Brussels: “a big step forward” in the conditionality procedure in December, and the completion of the judicial package in May, which is yet to be implemented.

Varga also referred to the creation of a national victim help network, the strengthening of child and family rights in cooperation with the civil sphere and law enforcement, and a big salary increase for judges and prosecutors.

She said that when it came to debates over the rule of law there were people such as those of the Soros network who saw it as their mission to “say awful things about us”.

Varga chided some EU member states for voting through certain decisions against their own national interests with the aim of giving the impression of European harmony, while shying away from implementing the decisions at home.

The insistence on ever-deeper European integration, she added, would actually lead to its opposite. “Honesty, a clear definition of the national interest and mutual respect” were requisites for the EU to stay together, she said. The European founders set out not to oppress states but to “open up a larger field of action for them” where everyone could bask in each other’s success, Varga concluded.

UPDATE

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has acknowledged the intention of Justice Minister Judit Varga to step down from her post, Orbán’s press chief told MTI.

Orbán has nominated Bence Tuzson, state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, to fill the post, Bertalan Havasi said.

The daily Magyar Nemzet said earlier in the day that Varga is slated to lead ruling Fidesz’s list in the 2024 European Parliament election and would step down from her ministerial post.

Source: MTI