Justice minister: Hungary committed to solidarity within EU

Hungary fully supports and applies solidarity within the European Union, Justice Minister Judit Varga told a roundtable held online on Monday.

The roundtable, held on the sidelines of a Salzburg conference dedicated to challenges and opportunities in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, focused on whether the level of solidarity between member states was sufficient.

In her reaction to remarks by the moderator suggesting that

the Hungarian government uses coronavirus-related restrictions to curb democracy, Varga rejected the recurring accusations.

The minister insisted that reports on Hungary as presented in the mainstream media were not necessarily true, and said that all democratic institutions had been functional since the outbreak of the epidemic.

She quoted Vera Jourova, vice president of the European Commission, as referring to Hungary’s democracy in a recent interview as “sick”, and said that such remarks were unacceptable. Such remarks, she said, were creating mistrust between member states.

“After a cabinet meeting this morning, we proposed that Jourova should resign,” she said.

Concerning European efforts to fight the epidemic, Varga said that EU institutions had been lagging behind member states with their measures and then they “found their job” in coordinating the actions of members. Hungary built cooperation with its neighbours, with a special focus on providing health equipment.

The Hungarian government supports the idea that European countries should show more solidarity with each other, moreover, solidarity could be the most crucial component in efforts to resolve challenges facing the community, Varga said.

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Source: MTI