Opposition parties turn to EU: Orbán and his government are not synonymous with Hungary

Hungary’s opposition parties on Wednesday sent a joint letter to the European leaders, criticising the government’s policies.

The letter signed by the Democratic Coalition (DK), Jobbik, LMP, Momentum, and the Socialist-Párbeszéd parties said: “The Hungarian democratic opposition, in view of the grave situation created by the Hungarian government’s destructive practices, feels the need to declare before all member states and citizens of the EU, as well as its leadership, that [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán and his government are not synonymous with Hungary.”

In the letter sent to Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and the German presidency, the signatories said the Orbán government was hindering European and Hungarian crisis-management efforts and acting against the interests and “justified expectations” of European and Hungarian citizens.

“We Hungarians have not ended the one-party [communist] regime and joined …the community of European states only for a corrupt, anti-democratic regime to hold Europe and Hungary to ransom, stripping their citizens of the rights and support they are entitled to,”

the letter said.

It added that the Hungarian opposition parties were bound by respect for democracy, the rule of law and European values, adding that they had joined forces so that the rule of law in the country may be restored as soon as possible.

Hungarian citizens and companies are in dire need of the EU’s recovery package due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the letter said.

“The funding should go to the Hungarian people rather than to the Orbán government, which has put its own power interests before the economic interests of the country. We call on the institutions and national governments of the EU to stop Orbán’s government from hobbling European and Hungarian crisis management and to help Hungarian citizens … access EU funding as soon as possible,”

it added.

The signatories have also called on their supporters to back their declaration that the Hungarian government did not have their assent to “disrupt European cooperation and strip European and Hungarian citizens of European funding”.

• Orbán: Hungary’s EU budget veto in line with treaties

The original letter

A call to the president of the European Council, the president of European Commission and the presidency of the Council

We, the forces of the Hungarian democratic opposition, considering the severity of the situation resulting from the destructive politics of the Hungarian government, find it necessary to declare to all citizens, all Member States, and the leadership of the European Union that Viktor Orbán and his government does not equal the entirety of Hungary as a country. With the inhibition of the European, hence Hungarian, crisis management, the Orbán government acts against the interests and rightful expectations of European and Hungarian citizens.

We, Hungarians did not put an end to the single-party system and did not join the value-based community of the European states – worthy of the legacy of the founder of the state, King Saint Stephen and the great men and women of our nation – to let a corrupt, anti-democratic regime take the place of a proud European country and capture Europe and Hungary, depriving Hungarian and European citizens of their granted rights and support. As the presidents of the parties of the Hungarian opposition, we are bound together by our respect for democracy, the rule of law, and European values. Our shared values oblige us to validate, through joint forces, the rule of law in our home country as soon as possible.

The severity of the situation caused by the economic and pandemic crisis, Hungarian citizens and their enterprises are in desperate need of the EU’s recovery fund. This aid is not intended to benefit the Orbán-government who places its own interest of power before the economic interests of the country, but to the Hungarian people. We, therefore, call upon the institutions of the European Union and the governments of Member States to find a solution in order to stop the Orbán-government’s selfishness from putting obstacles before the remedies for the European and Hungarian economic crisis and to help Hungarian citizens, who now fear to lose their existential stability, and their enterprises access the funding provided by EU to Hungary.

We call all our compatriots to join our statement, who are ready to declare with us that the Orbán-government’s destruction of the European cooperation is not on their behalf and that it seeks to deprive European and Hungarian citizens of granted EU funding against their will and against their interests.

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Source: MTI